Update (5/29/20): The URL of the Android application package to download the app has been changed and no longer mentions Amazon.
An app pushing the QAnon conspiracy theory that was recently banned from Google Play for violating its policies is now using an Amazon service for a workaround onto Android devices. The Amazon service prohibits services that are “harmful to others.”
Earlier this month, “QMAP” was banned from Google Play. The app showed posts from “Q,” the central figure in the conspiracy theory, including misinformation about the novel coronavirus that “Q” posted online. Google in a statement to Media Matters said the app was “distributing misleading or harmful information.”
In response to the ban, the developer of QMAP has announced a workaround to get the app on people’s Android devices. Its instructions involve clicking a link to download the Android application package (APK) for QMAP. The URL of the APK link includes “s3.amazonaws.com,” which means it is using Amazon’s storage service, which is part of Amazon Web Services.
Amazon Web Services’ policies prohibit its use for “Illegal, Harmful or Fraudulent Activities” and activities that “may be harmful to others, our operations or reputation.” In May 2019, an FBI field office released a memo that listed QAnon as a potential domestic terrorism threat, and the conspiracy theory has been linked to multiple people who have committed threatening and violent acts. That includes a man accused of murdering his brother with a sword, a man accused of murdering an alleged crime boss, a man who reportedly threatened to kill YouTube employees, an armed man who blocked the bridge over the Hoover Dam with an armored vehicle, a man who threatened to assassinate President Donald Trump, a woman who traveled to New York City to “take out” former Vice President Joe Biden, a man arrested for threatening to kill the governor and attorney general of Michigan, and multiple people who attempted kidnappings. The conspiracy theory has also become increasingly popular among border militias and anti-government groups.
QMAP isn't the only QAnon app Google has banned; apparently the service has banned all other apps about the conspiracy theory from Google Play as well. Apple previously had also seemingly banned all QAnon apps from its store.