Jan 8, 2021 - Technology

Twitter suspends accounts of Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell

Jacob Knutson

Former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn speaking at the Million MAGA March in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 12. Photo: Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Twitter permanently suspended the accounts of former national security adviser Michael Flynn and President Trump's lawyer Sidney Powell on Friday for breaking the platform's "Coordinated Harmful Activity" policy.

Why it matters: The action comes as part of the platform's crackdown on QAnon-related content. Both Flynn and Powell have promoted the far-right conspiracy theory that purports without evidence that the "deep state" is waging war against President Trump.

Context: The bans come after Twitter temporarily suspended Trump's account and threatened to permanently remove him from the platform if he continues to post false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

What they're saying: "When we determine that a group, movement, or campaign meets the criteria for designation as engaged in Coordinated Harmful Activity, we may suspend accounts whose primary use is to propagate and/or encourage engagement in the identified coordinated harmful activity," a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement

"We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm, and given the renewed potential for violence surrounding this type of behavior in the coming days, we will permanently suspend accounts that are solely dedicated to sharing QAnon content."

The big picture: The platform also removed the accounts of Michael Flynn Jr., and Ron Watkins, the former administrator of 8kun, the website formerly called 8chan that hosts posts from Q — the anonymous figure behind the conspiracy theory.

Go deeper: The Capitol siege's QAnon roots

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Twitter suspends accounts of Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell

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