Twitter says it’s cracking down on QAnon conspiracy theory

WASHINGTON (AP) — Twitter says it will crack down on accounts and content related to QAnon, the far-right U.S. conspiracy theory popular among supporters of President Donald Trump.

The company said Wednesday it will ban accounts associated with QAnon content and block sharing of associated URLs.

“We will permanently suspend accounts Tweeting about these topics that we know are engaged in violations of our multi-account policy, coordinating abuse around individual victims, or are attempting to evade a previous suspension — something we’ve seen more of in recent weeks,” said Twitter.

Twitter also said it will stop highlighting and recommending tweets associated with QAnon.

The company said it was taking action against online behavior that could lead to offline harm.

“These actions will be rolled out comprehensively this week,” wrote Twitter. “We will continue to review this activity across our service and update our rules and enforcement approach again if necessary.”

The QAnon conspiracy theory is centered on the baseless belief that Trump is waging a secret campaign against enemies in the “deep state.”

Trump has retweeted QAnon-promoting accounts.

Its followers flock to the president’s rallies wearing clothes and hats with QAnon symbols and slogans.