A conspiracy theory about West Coast wildfires is flooding Facebook despite the site’s promises to remove misinformation
QAnon groups — which Facebook has pledged to remove — are actively spreading the claims
Published
QAnon-supporting groups allegedly face great scrutiny by Facebook, according to the platform’s newly updated terms of use policy, which promises to remove any QAnon group that discusses “potential violence.” But QAnon groups especially have played a large role in pushing the false antifa wildfire narrative, earning major engagement with the conspiracy theory from tens of thousands of members. And now the wildfire misinformation is even performing well outside of these groups, and it continues to spread across the platform virtually unchecked.
This situation is yet another example of Facebook allowing disinformation to spread with no clear parameters for actually enforcing its rules: The platform’s enforcement of its policy against QAnon groups promoting violence has been both inconsistent and insufficient.
Below are examples of public and private QAnon Facebook groups spreading wildfire misinformation. These groups all either have “QAnon” or similar in their name or their “about” sections state that they are Q-affiliated or use language that identifies them as QAnon-related, such as Q slogans “WWG1WGA” (meaning “where we go one, we go all”) or “down the rabbit hole.”
Private QAnon Facebook group posts
[Down The Rabbit Hole *uncensored*, 9/13/20]
[One If By Land, Two If By Sea, 9/13/20]
[Q Chatter, 9/13/20]
[Down The Rabbit Hole *uncensored*, 9/11/20]
[Down The Rabbit Hole *uncensored*, 9/13/20]
[Follow The White Rabbit, 9/14/20]
[17 1141514 5:5, 9/11/20]
[QPatriot USA News and Updates, 9/11/20]
Public QAnon Facebook group posts
[WWG1WGA, 9/13/20]
[Q1NON, 9/11/20]
[QAnon 8ch Uncensored Research, 9/14/20]