Twitter Bans 7,000 Accounts Linked To 'QAnon' Conspiracy, Limit Thousands More

In a move to crack down on what the social media company deems to be harmful behavior, Twitter on Wednesday banned 7,000 accounts linked to the “QAnon” conspiracy theory and placed limitations on 150,000 other accounts. The banned accounts have been accused of engaging in harassment and breaking Twitter’s rules against platform manipulation, spam and ignoring the ban.

The accounts affected by the limitations will no longer be recommended by Twitter’s algorithms, in an attempt to prevent QAnon content from spreading. These accounts and terms associated with QAnon will also be featured less in searches and trends.

A Twitter spokesperson confirmed that while the rules being broken are not new, the designation of QAnon-affiliated content as "harmful" is new for the platform.

QAnon is a fringe right-wing conspiracy theory that originated on the controversial online message board 4Chan. It is based on posts from an anonymous user, called “Q” by followers, claiming without proof to be a government employee with “Q-Level” clearance. The posts claim that President Trump is leading a secret campaign against “deep state” figures — largely composed of left-wing politicians, progressive celebrities and business leaders — that are allegedly engaged in child abuse, pedophilia and Satanism.

The anonymous user making the posts has made numerous predictions over the years, none of which have come true.

The QAnon conspiracy is linked to older ones, including the “PizzaGate” conspiracy, which made the false claims that numerous left-wing politicians were running a child sex trafficking ring. QAnon followers have been linked to shootings, harassment, attempted kidnapping, and one murder since late 2017. In 2019, the FBI officially designated QAnon as a national security threat.