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Why did Twitter suspend 70K QAnon accounts? Reddit and Snapchat limit content, Amazon to scrap QAnon products

Facebook said it will remove any content that led to 'Stop the Steal', a rallying cry for Donald Trump supporters

Twitter on Monday, January 11, said it removed more than 70,000 accounts that promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory in recent days, as the company extended its crackdown on content that could provoke or incite violence after barring President Donald Trump from its service last week.

Twitter, which carried out the suspensions over the weekend, said it clamped down on posts that have “the potential to lead to offline harm.” It added that many of the users who were removed had operated multiple QAnon accounts, driving up the total number of accounts that were taken down. Pointing out the riots at the Capitol Hill on Wednesday, January 6, Twitter's blog post read: "Given the violent events in Washington, DC, and increased risk of harm, we began permanently suspending thousands of accounts that were primarily dedicated to sharing QAnon content on Friday afternoon."

It further read: "Many of the individuals impacted by this updated enforcement action held multiple accounts, driving up the total number of accounts impacted. Since Friday, more than 70,000 accounts have been suspended as a result of our efforts, with many instances of a single individual operating numerous accounts. These accounts were engaged in sharing harmful QAnon-associated content at scale and were primarily dedicated to the propagation of this conspiracy theory across the service. Our updated enforcement on QAnon content on Twitter, along with routine spam challenges, has resulted in changes in follower count for some people’s Twitter accounts. In some cases, these actions may have resulted in follower count changes in the thousands."

On Friday, January 8, Twitter removed the accounts of Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell and other high-profile supporters of President Donald Trump who promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory. Twitter also removed the account of Ron Watkins, the administrator of the website 8kun, which was formerly named 8chan and hosts posts from Q, the false digital “prophet” at the heart of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

Other social media platforms such as Snapchat and Reddit have also limited content from Trump and his speeches that might inspire people to violence in recent days. Facebook and Twitter have since expanded their actions. On Monday, January 11, Facebook stated that it would begin removing any content that led to “Stop the Steal,” a rallying cry for Trump supporters who believe the false claim that the election was stolen from Trump. On Monday, January 11, Amazon also stated that it is working to remove some QAnon products from its online marketplace, citing policies that prohibit offensive items or other inappropriate content.

As soon as the news made its way to social media, people reacted to it saying, "That must be why so many of those @GOP politicians lost so many of their @Twitter followers!!" Another one said, "Not good~ They will go underground, it is more tough to defeat them and educate the ignorant."

One wrote: Republican Officials who added fuel to the fire: “I don’t understand why I’m losing thousands of followers!”" And one said: "2021 is honestly kicking f*cking ass. 70k Qanon accounts removed from Twitter. Reality MUST win. No more bullshit. No more both sides. No more "my opinion is as good as your truth". No more pretending not to know what "free speech" means. Conspiracy nutters have to go."

Giving a lot of love and thumbs-ups to Twitter, for the action, one wrote, "Oh my. Thank you, Twitter. From the deepest part of me, thank you. I’m so scared right now. We’re all so raw, so vulnerable. The whole country needs to take in some peace. I feel like I haven’t been able to breath anymore. Bring nice back. Love you." While one questioned the social networking platform for not deleting ANTIFA accounts: "Twitter suspends more than 70,000 QAnon-linked accounts, resulting in 'changes in follower count' for some Are they cancelling “Antifa” accounts? Time to cancel Twitter!"