Facebook has identified thousands of groups and pages with millions of followers and members that push the QAnon conspiracy theory in an internal investigation, according to a report from NBC News. The scale of the QAnon community on Facebook had been previously unknown as the majority of the groups are private. It remains unclear what action Facebook will take—if any—though the internal investigation is likely to inform next steps for the platform. The social media giant is reportedly considering taking similar action as in its response to anti-vaccination groups by rejecting QAnon advertisements and preventing QAnon groups and pages from appearing in recommended searches. Facebook has been key to the conspiracy theory’s proliferation, largely because of its groups feature.
