Facebook Amps Up Its Crackdown on QAnon

Facebook, facing criticism that it hasn’t done enough to curb a fast-growing, fringe conspiracy movement, said on Tuesday that it would remove any group, page or account that openly identified with the QAnon.

The change drastically hardens earlier policies outlined by the social media company. In August, Facebook unveiled its first attempt to limit the spread of QAnon, by establishing policies that barred QAnon groups that called for violence.

But hundreds of other QAnon groups, pages and accounts continued to spread on the platform, and the effort was considered a disappointment in many circles, including among Facebook employees.

On Tuesday, Facebook acknowledged that its previous policies had not gone far enough in addressing the popularity of the far-right conspiracy movement.

“We’ve been vigilant in enforcing our policy and studying its impact on the platform but we’ve seen several issues that led to today’s update,” Facebook said in a public post.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.