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Facebook Bans Ads That Praise or Support QAnon

Facebook is banning advertisements that “praise, support or represent militarized social movements and QAnon,” the right-wing conspiracy group, the company said on Wednesday.

The decision came hours after Facebook said it would ban ads that aim to delegitimize the results of November’s presidential election. The ban also comes a little more than a month after Facebook purged 790 QAnon groups from the platform.

“We have seen growing movements that, while not directly organizing violence, have celebrated violent acts, shown that they have weapons and suggest they will use them, or have individual followers with patterns of violent behavior,” Facebook said at the time.

Also Read: Biden Campaign: Facebook Is 'Nation's Foremost Propagator of Disinformation'

On Wednesday, Facebook, in an update shared on its blog, said users who follow pages tied to QAnon and other “restricted” pages will see their content further down on their News Feeds. Facebook said this change first went into effect on Sep. 16.

If you’re not familiar with QAnon, here’s how The New York Times recently summarized the movement:

“QAnon was once a fringe phenomenon — the kind most people could safely ignore. But in recent months, it’s gone mainstream. Twitter, Facebook and other social networks have been flooded with QAnon-related false information about Covid-19, the Black Lives Matter protests and the 2020 election. QAnon supporters have also been trying to attach themselves to other activist causes, such as the anti-vaccine and anti-child-trafficking movements, in an effort to expand their ranks.”

Previously, QAnon has said there was a deep state conspiracy to take down President Trump, led by a group running a covert child sex-trafficking ring.

Read original story Facebook Bans Ads That Praise or Support QAnon At TheWrap