US Capitol Attack: Twitter Bans Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell

Associated Press (AP)
2021-01-09T08:33:20+05:30
US Capitol Attack: Twitter Bans Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell

2021-01-09T08:36:33+05:30

Twitter has banned President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn and pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell as part of a purge of QAnon accounts following the storming of the US Capitol by a mob of violent Trump supporters.

Social media companies have been under intensified pressure to crack down on hate speech after Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol.

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Dozens of QAnon social media accounts were hyping up January 6 in the days leading up to a Washington DC rally for Trump, expressing hope that President-elect Joe Biden’s victory would be overturned.

Twitter said in an email statement on Friday: “Given the renewed potential for violence surrounding this type of behavior in the coming days, we will permanently suspend accounts that are solely dedicated to sharing QAnon content.”

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The company says that when it determines a group or campaign is engaged in “coordinated harmful activity”, it may suspend accounts that it finds primarily encourages that behaviour.

QAnon is a baseless belief, born on the internet, that Trump has been secretly fighting deep state enemies and a cabal of Satan-worshipping cannibals operating a child sex-trafficking ring.