Facebook to ban any ads supporting the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory and ‘militarized social movements’
FACEBOOK has announced it will ban any advertisements in support of the far-right group QAnon and militarized social movements.
On Wednesday, the social media giant headed by revealed how they would address ads for organizations tied to violence on the platform.
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On September 29, banned ads that "praise, support or represent ."
"On September 16, we started down-ranking content in the Pages and Groups that have been restricted but not removed," the stated.
"Now, people who are members of Groups that have been restricted and follow Pages that have been restricted, will see content from these Groups and Pages further down in their News Feed."
The company detailed in its blog post that it will now direct people to credible child safety resources when they search for certain child safety hashtags.
According to Facebook, QAnon supporters are increasingly using hashtags like #savethechildren to recruit and organize.
Starting Wednesday, Facebook "will direct people to credible child safety resources when they search for certain child safety hashtags.
"In addition, content about QAnon and child safety is eligible for fact checking through our third-party fact-checking program."
is an unfounded conspiracy theory that claims President Donald Trump is fighting a "deep state" network of political, entertainment, business and media elites.
Dark sub-theories have spun off from these claims, some involving Satanic plots and child trafficking.
Back in August, .
The ban included around 900 pages and fan groups and 1,500 ads supporting the pro-conspiracy that consists of .
"Today we are taking action against Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts tied to offline anarchist groups that support violent acts amidst protests, US-based militia organizations and QAnon," Facebook's August 19 announcement read.
"We are expanding our Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy to address organizations and movements that have demonstrated significant risks to public safety but do not meet the rigorous criteria to be designated as a dangerous organization and banned from having any presence on our platform."
On Tuesday, the -based tech titan also revealed a for Trump or .
The platform also banned ads that claim widespread voting fraud, suggest results are invalid, or that attack any method of voting are also banned.
The changes affect both Facebook and , the company wrote.
The move came a day after the president used the first televised debate with challenger Biden to amplify his baseless claims that the November 3 presidential election will be "rigged."
On September 3, Zuckerberg confirmed that Facebook would be banning political ads leading up to Election Day.
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"We all have a responsibility to protect our democracy," Zuckerberg said in a :
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"That means helping people register and vote, clearing up confusion about how this election will work, and taking steps to reduce the chances of violence and unrest."
Facebook also wants to for one to six weeks as part of a social experiment.