The Extremists, Conspiracy Theorists, And Conservative Stars Banned From Social Media Following The Capitol Takeover - Forbes

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Topline

After years of what critics have charged to be insufficient efforts to rein in misinformation and hate speech online, Facebook, Twitter and a host of other social media companies sprang to action following the takeover of the U.S. Capitol, banning a host of prominent conspiracy theorists, right-wing personalities and even President Donald Trump. Here are the most notable people whose access has been revoked:

Key Facts

Trump has been banned by Twitter, Snapchat and Twitch, while Facebook, which also owns Instagram, says the president will be banned “at least” through the end of his term.

Twitter suspended the Trump campaign account, @TeamTrump and the account of Trump digital director Gary Coby after the president tried to use the accounts to evade the ban on his personal profile.

Twitter, Facebook, Paypal and Venmo have banned Ali Alexander, one of the main organizers of the “Stop the Steal” protest group, which gained a huge following online.

Lin Wood, a prominent defamation attorney and QAnon supporter who filed lawsuits on Trump’s behalf and spread wild conspiracy theories online, as well as accusing Vice President Mike Pence of being a traitor and a communist, was permanently banned by Twitter last week after claiming the Capitol siege was “staged.”

Sidney Powell, another pro-Trump lawyer who was once a member of the president’s legal team, former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn, who was pardoned by Trump in November after pleading guilty to lying to the F.B.I., and Ron Watkins, the former head of the QAnon-filled message board 8chun, were kicked off Twitter on Friday after sharing QAnon conspiracy theory content, something they had done for months.

YouTube banned the podcast channel of former Trump strategist Steve Bannon on Friday, hours after Bannon interviewed Rudy Guiliani, Trump's personal lawyer who called for a “trial by combat” at the rally on Wednesday.

The streaming platform DLive revoked access to Nick Fuentes and Nick Ochs, two-high profile right-wing personalities connected to the Capitol siege.

Big Number

70,000. That’s how many QAnon accounts Twitter said Monday it banned since last week.

Tangent

Social media companies have also banned access to certain pages and forums. Reddit suspended the popular pro-Trump sub-reddit group r/DonaldTrump following what it said was “repeated policy violations in recent days regarding the violence at the U.S. Capitol.” Apple, Google and Amazon have severely limited access to Parler, the social media site that became a hotbed for conspiracy theories.

Chief Critic

Some European leaders came to Trump’s defense after he was banned by Twitter and other social media platforms, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel calling the suspension “problematic.”

Key Background

Social media companies were slow to clamp down on conspiracy theories like QAnon—and the president as he amplified them—despite repeated warnings the hands off approach was having real-world consequences. It took until Monday for Facebook to ban “Stop the Steal” completely, 69 day after the election, as CNN noted. It wasn’t until July 2020 that Twitter began cracking down on QAnon. The platform only started labeling Trump’s tweets in May 2020. Before pro-Trump rioters took over the Capitol on Wednesday, the QAnon conspiracy theory was connected to multiple violent events.

Surprising Fact

In October, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki refused to commit to banning QAnon from the platform. "We're looking very closely at QAnon," Wojcicki said in an interview with CNN. "We already implemented a large number of different policies that have helped to maintain that in a responsible way."