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![]() By Glenn CHAPMAN San Francisco (AFP) Oct 6, 2020
Facebook on Tuesday announced a ban on all accounts linked to the QAnon conspiracy group, as the social network tries to clamp down on misinformation ahead of the heated US presidential election. The move against QAnon at Facebook and its image-sharing platform Instagram comes as the online giant tries to avoid being used to deceive or confuse voters, as was the case during the 2016 election that put US President Donald Trump in the White House. "We will remove any Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts representing QAnon, even if they contain no violent content," the internet titan said in a blog post. From an anonymous 2017 posting claiming bizarre child exploitation and political plots, the headless and bodiless movement has earned a place in Trump's Twitter stream. The FBI last year said in a report that QAnon was one of several movements that could drive "both groups and individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts." The ban on QAnon accounts steps up Facebook's efforts to clamp down on misinformation campaigns sometimes endorsed by Trump, weeks ahead of the November 3 presidential election. "Facebook's decision to ban QAnon from all its platforms is a much needed, if belated, step to purge dangerous conspiracy theories from the platform," said Anti-Defamation league chief executive Jonathan Greenblatt. "We hope that this is a sincere effort to purge hate and antisemitism from their platform, and not another knee-jerk response to pressure from members of Congress and the public." The moves made across Facebook and Instagram were against accounts tied to "offline anarchist groups that support violent acts amidst protests, US-based militia organizations and QAnon," according to the blog post. The leading social network recently prohibited ads that praise, support or represent militarized social movements and QAnon. Facebook in August removed hundreds of groups tied to QAnon and imposed restrictions on nearly 2,000 more as part of a crackdown on stoking violence. Critics have charged that inflammatory content from QAnon was spreading on Facebook despite the platform's proclaimed effort to contain it. - Stoking flames - Facebook said it tightened its prohibition on QAnon after noticing that, despite taking down posts directly promoting violence, QAnon supporter messages adapted to avoid restrictions. For example, QAnon used the platform to claim deadly wildfires raging on the West Coast were started by certain groups, which diverted attention of police and firefighters. "QAnon messaging changes very quickly and we see networks of supporters build an audience with one message and then quickly pivot to another," Facebook said. The social network already bans content calling for violence and organizations that proclaim violent missions. The increasingly visible and vocal followers of QAnon promote a bewildering blend of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. Once on the fringes of the internet and focused on US politics, the movement has seen sharp growth on mainstream social media platforms this year. The movement centered on the unsubstantiated belief that the world is run by a cabal of Satan-worshippers has extended that this year to allege, without proof, that the coronavirus is a conspiracy by that group to control people using vaccines and 5G. Social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube have ramped up surveillance for QAnon content, as adherents attempt to bypass the new filters.
How did QAnon conspiracies spread so fast in 2020? Once on the fringes of the internet and focused on US politics, the movement has seen sharp growth on mainstream social media platforms this year, prompting tech firms to tighten controls and ban QAnon followers. The movement is centred on the unsubstantiated belief that the world is run by a cabal of Satan-worshipping paedophiles. It has extended that this year to allege, without proof, that the coronavirus is a conspiracy by that group to control people using vaccines and 5G. Did the pandemic have something to do with it? Researchers detected sharp spikes in QAnon content and related searches in March, when many countries had started imposing lockdowns and other social distancing measures. The anxiety, frustration and economic pain caused by the pandemic -- coupled with the increased amount of time people were spending -- online became an explosive mix that drew people to QAnon, experts say. "QAnon blamed these events on global elites while also increasing distrust in mainstream media, government and organisations such as the WHO," said Mackenzie Hart, a disinformation researcher at the London-based ISD think tank. Core QAnon beliefs were also coupled with anti-vaccine messaging and far-right campaigns, further expanding its following. Why was it so easy to spread QAnon on social media? Tech analysis have pointed to a feature at the core of most major social media platforms as a key driver of QAnon growth: the recommendation algorithm. Users who view, post or search for certain content are guided to what the platform's algorithm determines to be other content they may be interested in. Analysts have said this helped link existing conspiracy theories -- such as those about vaccines and 5G -- with QAnon. "They know this, especially the core of true believers, they are very good at leveraging the algorithmic... amplification techniques to drive engagement to their videos or posts," said Alex Newhouse, a disinformation researcher at Middlebury College's Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism. "QAnon would not exist in the volume that it exists without the recommendation algorithms on the big tech platforms." QAnon followers, in a bid to defeat the Satanist paedophile cabal, have also hijacked hashtags such as #SaveTheChildren, a move experts say has harmed serious efforts to stop human trafficking. Researchers have found Instagram influencers, including those that do not directly reference the movement, have used colourful and inviting visuals to promote QAnon conspiracy theories. What is being done about it? Social media giants have been forced to act in recent months as QAnon content spread far and wide, with researchers finding material originating from around 70 countries. Hundreds of thousands of pages, groups, users and hashtags -- including the QAnon slogan WWG1WGA, or "Where we go one, we go all" -- have been removed, blocked or hidden on major social media. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube have also ramped up surveillance for QAnon content, as adherents attempt to bypass the new filters. Is that enough? According to researchers, the filtering and blocking of some QAnon related content has had an impact, with a decrease in searches on Google and engagement with Facebook groups. But content remains rife. According to an NBC News report citing internal Facebook documents, QAnon groups and pages have millions of followers and members. Cutting off or reducing access to potential new followers is one of the few effective methods available to tech giants, experts say, but QAnon has amassed a huge hardcore following already. Many are already entrenched on the free-for-all fringes of the internet, such as anonymous message boards 4chan and 8kun, and encrypted communication apps like Telegram. "At this point, kicking off the true believers, banning them... is whack-a-mole. They're going to keep evading bans (on social media)," added Newhouse. "It's going to be a lot harder task to tackle the now millions of true believers who are out there."
![]() ![]() Army adopts new tech to detect chemical weapons Washington DC (UPI) Sep 08, 2020 The Army is sending a new, more sensitive tool for chemical weapons detection to units at risk of exposure. According to an Army press release, some active Army, Reserve and National Guard units have begun to receive Chemical Agent Disclosure Spray and the Contamination Indicator/Decontamination Assurance System, known as CIDAS. It detects chemical weapons accurately at lower concentration levels - and can help inspectors determine whether decontamination worked. The Army is fiel ... read more
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