Skip to main content
  • Online media
  • Tariffs
  • Epstein
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • RSS
  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate

Media Matters for America

  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives

Media Matters for America

  • Nav
  • Search
  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives
  • Online media
  • Tariffs
  • Epstein
  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • RSS
QAnon Facebook

Sheila Sund via Creative Commons

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

Written by Olivia Little

Research contributions from Alex Kaplan

Published 09/15/20 1:35 PM EDT

Public and private QAnon Facebook groups are spreading a demonstrably false conspiracy theory claiming the Oregon wildfires were started by antifa, or anti-fascist activists. These unchecked false claims demonstrate Facebook isn’t living up to its promise to remove misinformation about this narrative, and they call into question the company’s commitment to scrutinize QAnon organizing on its platform.

On September 12, Facebook policy communications director Andy Stone tweeted:

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]

The Latest

  1. Newsmax host: “If he talks about 2028, suddenly he's not a lame duck”

    Video & Audio 04/30/25 9:05 AM EDT

  2. Jesse Watters to his co-host after she notes Oklahoma family mistakenly raided by ICE: “No one even believes your stories anymore”

    Video & Audio 04/29/25 7:04 PM EDT

  3. Sean Hannity: “The tariff war started with Canada”

    Video & Audio 04/29/25 7:01 PM EDT

  4. On Deadline: White House, Angelo Carusone describes how Project 2025 laid the groundwork for Trump to install right-wing media loyalists into “senior level positions”

    Video & Audio 04/29/25 6:17 PM EDT

  5. Stephen Miller: “Fox News needs to fire its pollster”

    Video & Audio 04/29/25 2:30 PM EDT

Pagination

  • Previous page ‹‹
  • …
  • Current page 123
  • …
  • Next page ››

In This Article

  • QAnon Conspiracy Theory

    QAnon-Conspiracy-Theory-MMFA-Tag.png
  • Facebook / Meta

    Facebook-MMFA-Tag.png
  • Wildfire

Related

  1. 9/11 conspiracy theorist Richard Gage says Ron Johnson will keynote his conference

    Video & Audio 08/22/25 4:47 PM EDT

  2. Media Matters weekly newsletter, July 25

    Narrative/Timeline 07/25/25 10:45 AM EDT

  3. QAnon world roiled by Trump opposing releasing the Epstein files

    Research/Study 07/21/25 2:39 PM EDT

Media Matters for America

Sign up for email updates
  • About
  • Contact
  • Corrections
  • Submissions
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • RSS

© 2025 Media Matters for America

RSS