Twitter Purges 70,000 Accounts Linked to Pro-Trump Q-Anon Conspiracy

TWITTER has suspended 70,000 accounts linked to the bizarre Pro-Trump Q-Anon conspiracy theory in its latest crackdown on dangerous disinformation.

The tech giant announced on Monday that it has suspended “more than 70,000 accounts” connected to the bizarre QAnon conspiracy theory in the wake of the attack on the US Capitol by a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters last week.
Twitter launched its purge on Friday after it had permanently suspended Mr Trump’s account for language that could incite violence in a move that has caused some debate regarding free speech and censorship.
“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,” the company said in a blog post.
Followers of the bizarre far-right QAnon conspiracy theory believe that Donald Trump is waging a secret war against a cabal of Satanic pedophiles who secretly control the United States government. The outlandish theory has a worrying amount of followers in the US, who get their information from “Q”, a mysterious “government insider” who reveals their bogus insights via anonymous posts on the 8-chan website.
Several major social media platforms have taken unprecedented action since Trump’s supporters invaded the Capitol Wednesday to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential win. Facebook and Twitter have both indefinitely suspended the accounts for Trump in a move that has been praised by many but has also raised questions of censorship and free speech in the social media era.
Both platforms referred to the risk of future violence as the reason for their bans, particularly in the run up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on January 20. Prior to his account being suspended, Trump had over 88 million followers on Twitter which was the controversial President’s primary mouthpiece during his term in the White House.

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