Discussion

• Vox Shirin Ghaffary on x

  Facebook is finally cracking down on QAnon

• @jebbush Jeb Bush on x

  Why in the world would the President not kick Q'anon supporters' butts? Nut jobs, rascists, haters have no place in either Party. https://twitter.com/...

• @nickmartin Nick Martin on x

  UPDATE: Facebook gave me a few examples of the anti-fascist pages it took down as part of today's purge. The company removed the pages for: - @IGD_News - @crimethinc - @PNWYLF

• @davidneiwert David Neiwert on x

  This is outrageous. Equating antifa with QAnon betrays how Facebook fundamentally doesn't grasp the issue. The far right thrives by spreading disinformation. One of the underrated aspects of Antifa is that spreads accurate information about the bad actors on the far right. https:…

• @mollymckew Molly McKew on x

  A lot of people (& journos) seem to be misreading this FB release It does not identify antifa as a target of the takedown It says accounts “encouraging riots, including some WHO MAY IDENTIFY as antifa” That can mean a lot of things. Including inauthentic activity & provocation ht…

• @rosecityantifa Always Antifascist on x

  Facebook has bought into the Trump-loyalist GOP smear campaign against anti-fascist activists who have undertaken the difficult & dangerous work of exposing, opposing, & undermining the murderous insurgent fascist & neo-Nazi elements among Trump's MAGA base. https://twitter.com/.…

• @citationspod @citationspod on x

  Facebook banning leftwing media is the logical end point of begging a US-based corporate publishing monopoly to arbitrate truth. https://twitter.com/...

• @igd_news @igd_news on x

  As protests + calls from Trump + the far-Right to criminalize antifascism continue, today Facebook banned a variety of anarchist, antifascist + anti-capitalist pages, including news platforms like ours + @crimethinc + grassroots groups. A thread. https://itsgoingdown.org/...

• @daveyalba Davey Alba on x

  In Facebook's QAnon takedown today, Antifa was lumped in with other militia groups potentially encouraging riots. In my reporting there's not been a single incident where Antifa has been tied *definitively* to concrete/real-world harm. So I asked FB https://about.fb.com/... (1/5)

• @crimethinc @crimethinc on x

  Facebook has taken down pages they believe to be connected with https://crimethinc.com/ on the pretext that they “support violence.” This has nothing to do with stopping violence and everything to do with cracking down on social movements. Our statement: https://cwc.im/... https…

• @mrandyngo Andy Ng&ocirc on x

  With @Facebook announcing it will ban violent extreme #antifa groups from the platform, I hope it starts with closing these groups & many others. Big tech has been complicit in allowing antifa terrorists to carry out acts of organized violence across American cities. https://twit…

• @infomorph @infomorph on x

  Facebook taking down a bunch of antifa/anarchist pages because they “endorse violence” but not touching any US military or police pages tells you everything you need to know about nonviolence narratives.

• @lizthegrey Liz Fong-Jones on x

  WTF. https://twitter.com/...

• @brandyzadrozny Brandy Zadrozny on x

  The biggest move IMO, Facebook will no longer feature Qanon groups and pages in the “recommendations” sidebar. This is a big deal.

• @nickmartin Nick Martin on x

  2. In its announcement, Facebook lumped together militia groups, which are generally right-wing, with anti-fascist groups, which come from the left. The company provided no insight about why the two groups were counted together.

• @brandyzadrozny Brandy Zadrozny on x

  NEW: Facebook (finally) cracks down on Qanon https://www.nbcnews.com/...

• @kevinroose Kevin Roose on x

  This is a big deal. And will be an even bigger deal if Facebook keeps enforcing against these groups when they (inevitably) try to reorganize and come back under new names. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @katierogers Katie Rogers on x

  Always best to wait until people start winning congressional primaries to do something https://twitter.com/...

• @nickmartin Nick Martin on x

  3. The move, however, is reminiscent of the DOJ task force on “anti-government extremists” that initially blamed anti-fascists for violence at #BackLivesMatter protests nationwide. https://abcnews.go.com/...

• @kevinroose Kevin Roose on x

  In any case, QAnon has critical mass now (and probably a member of Congress), so this won't stop the movement. QAnon followers have been planning for a takedown and have backup plans. But removing groups from recommendations could slow the growth.

• @srpeatling Stephanie Peatling on x

  Super @TheAtlantic piece abt QAnon which made me feel a bit sick. Ta to @sallyrawsthorne for sharing. “If you can make a covetable aesthetic & then attach conspiracy theories to it, that normalizes the conspiracy theories in a way Instagram is good for.” https://www.theatlantic.c…

• @jgreenblattadl Jonathan Greenblatt on x

  We were hopeful that Facebook's announcement would mean finally taking QAnon and other dangerous movements seriously. However, a quick search reveals MOST groups linked to these efforts still have a robust presence on the platform. #StopHateForProfit. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @gavinsblog Gavin Sheridan on x

  Seems like another day late, dollar short moment. https://twitter.com/...

• @feliciasonmez Felicia Sonmez on x

  Hours ahead of Trump's remarks on QAnon today... https://twitter.com/...

• @iancapstick Ian Capstick on x

  Alt headline: Facebook admits nearly 3000 conspiracy sites flourished on their platform, 1950 remain https://twitter.com/...

• @kathieallenmd @kathieallenmd on x

  If only Social Media companies had curtailed the spread of this cancer when it first appeared, it wouldn't have millions of followers boosting up Trump's fragile ego: https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @cindyotis_ Cindy Otis on x

  From me: “There needs to be a real change in how these platforms think about conspiracy theories and the real-world harm they cause,” said Cindy Otis, vice president of analysis for Alethea Group, an organization that investigates disinformation. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @marietjeschaake Marietje Schaake on x

  It is hard to fathom how far the company has moved from not wanting to be an ‘arbiter of truth’ to enforcing new house rules more forcefully. Glad to see QAnon called out! Still, I believe in safety and riggts criteria on the basis of the rule of law and independent oversight ↘️ …

• @kevinroose Kevin Roose on x

  One scenario is that removing/limiting QAnon groups stalls their growth. Another is that QAnon followers disperse into other groups (anti-vax, reopen, anti-trafficking, etc.) and end up with a lot of new recruits.

• @mikeisaac Rat King on x

  amazing thing in this Facebook announcement, someone decided to add ‘antifa’ to the takedowns out of some knee-jerk impulse to show balance (follow sheera for fb and Q*non takedown stuff) https://twitter.com/...

• @mikeisaac Rat King on x

  would love to know how much of FB's integrity team has to defer to the Policy wing w/r/t enforcement this guy has a good thread on ideology and the idea of “balance” here https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x

  BREAKING from me + @BrandyZadrozny: Facebook cracks down on QAnon, banning 900 groups and pages, 1,500 ads, and restricting over 10,000 Instagram pages, part of new rules against advocating political violence. Militia movements, anarchist groups also banned. Story coming.

• @alibreland Ali Breland on x

  story coming in a second but here's the opening bit facebook's new post explaining its crackdown: https://twitter.com/...

• @ekp Ellen K. Pao on x

  Yikes that loophole buried in the last sentence is huge and problematic https://twitter.com/...

• @brandyzadrozny Brandy Zadrozny on x

  They banned some 900 Qanon pages and groups and 1,500 ads and restricted the reach of over 10,000 Instagram pages and almost 2,000 Facebook groups. https://www.nbcnews.com/...

• @oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x

  Facebook stressed this was just the beginning of their QAnon crackdown, saying they're ready to evolve as Q followers change tactics. “We don't think we're flipping a switch and this won't be a discussion in a week.” A notable shift in tone from FB. https://www.nbcnews.com/...

• @ruchosharma Ruchira Sharma on x

  .@kait_tiffany's piece on how influencers are making QAnon/conspiracy theories look pretty on Instagram with pastel graphics and influencer aesthetics is so good https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...

• @adriennelaf Adrienne LaFrance on x

  Turns out QAnon's aesthetic isn't just badly PhotoShopped American flags and soaring eagles. It's also this, which is terrifying: https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...

• @brandyzadrozny Brandy Zadrozny on x

  Facebook not allowing users to post the new plandemic link https://twitter.com/...