Facebook canceled a large group dedicated to sharing and discussing QAnon conspiracy theories.
QAnon is a wide-ranging and baseless conspiracy theory that a "deep state" network of powerful government, business and media personalities are waging a secret war against Donald Trump.
A Facebook spokesperson said the group was removed for "repeatedly posting content that violated our policies."
Both Twitter and TikTok also cracked down on QAnon's content last month.
Twitter banned thousands of accounts and said it would block QAnon URLs, while TikTok eliminated hashtags flagging QAnon videos.
The canceled Facebook group, called Official Q / Qanon, had nearly 200,000 members.
There are, however, many other QAnon groups that are currently still active on the platform.
QAnon followers are mainly supporters of the president of the United States.
Reuters reports that the official Q / QAnon "overstepped the line" in bullying, harassment, hate speech and sharing of potentially harmful misinformation.
Last year the FBI issued a warning about "internal extremists driven by conspiracy theory" and designated QAnon as a potential internal extremist threat.
What is QAnon?
By Shayan Sardarizadeh and Jack Goodman, BBC anti-disinformation teamQAnon is a wide-ranging and unfounded conspiracy theory that President Trump must fight against a clandestine network of political, business, media and entertainment elites, often involving satanic plots and child trafficking.
QAnon started in October 2017 on the 4chan anonymous bulletin board. One user claimed to have maximum security clearance within the US government and signed their posts anonymously as "Q", hence the name QAnon. Q communicates in cryptic posts and claims to be directly involved in a Trump-led secret investigation into a global pedophile network.
QAnon followed the "pizzagate" saga in 2016, a false theory about Democratic Party politicians running a pedophile ring in a Washington pizza place.
QAnon influencers have a large audience on social media. They urge followers to "do their own research" - in other words, watch YouTube videos and talk to other supporters - to solve Q's puzzles. In its nearly three years of existence, the conspiracy has attracted massive traffic on Facebook. , Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Reddit, attracting hundreds of thousands of dedicated followers. That includes celebrities and dozens of candidates running for Congress this year.
During the coronavirus pandemic, influencers Q spread unsubstantiated theories about the coronavirus, calling it a "deep state" hoax and promoted misinformation about masks and vaccines.
