The Wall Street Journal

Facebook says it’s taking down all content referencing ‘stop the steal’

Published: Jan. 12, 2021 at 12:30 a.m. ET

By

Sarah E. Needleman

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The slogan "stop the steal" was in significant evidence at the rally last Wednesday against... — The slogan "stop the steal" was in significant evidence at the rally last Wednesday against congressional certification of Joe Biden's victory in the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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FB

-4.01%

TWTR

-6.41%

Facebook Inc. FB, -4.01% said it is removing all content mentioning “stop the steal,” a phrase popular among supporters of President Trump’s unproven claims of election fraud, as part of a raft of measures to stem misinformation and incitements to violence on its platform ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.

The announcement was one of a number of new measures announced by tech giants Monday in an effort to deter further unrest after the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol last week. Twitter Inc. TWTR, -6.41% said it has removed more than 70,000 accounts since Friday that spread the QAnon conspiracy theory, whose followers believe Trump is under assault by Satan worshipers.

“We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm,” Twitter said in a blog post. “Given the violent events in Washington, DC, and increased risk of harm, we began permanently suspending thousands of accounts that were primarily dedicated to sharing QAnon content on Friday afternoon.”

An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com.

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