Tech employees are on high alert about their own personal safety as their employers roll out policies to ban or limit the reach of far-right extremists angry over former President Trump's defeat, Axios' Ashley Gold reports.

Why it matters: As tech companies impose aggressive policies after the Capitol riot, employees will be the target of vitriol from aggrieved people who think tech and the media are conspiring to silence Trump and conservatives more broadly.

What's happening: Facebook told its employees shortly after the Capitol riot not to wear company-branded gear or carry company-branded accessories, The Information reported.

• On Tuesday, Facebook wrote in an internal post that it has not identified any credible threats targeting employees or work spaces but that employees should remain vigilant, a Facebook employee told Axios.
• One employee at a major tech firm told Axios they were told to remove their name from a quote about a particular deplatforming decision for their own safety, and received threatening messages on LinkedIn about the change.
• Some Twitter employees made their accounts private and hid their employer from their online profiles to avoid attention from Trump supporters, and several Twitter executives now have personal security, the New York Times reported.

Companies were reluctant to share details about the security measures they put in place.

Meanwhile: In pro-Trump online communities, vague threats about a reckoning coming for Big Tech companies are circulating widely, as they have been for some time.

• If there are more specific plots to attack tech companies, they're being cooked up in more private channels.
• Last week, Trump supporters' plans to mount a protest at Twitter's offices in San Francisco set some observers on edge, but the event was a bust (and Twitter employees are working from home due to the pandemic anyway).

Still, the concern over the possibility of an attack is very real. And there's precedent for tech employees being in put in danger as a result of company policy decisions.

Flashback: In 2018, a woman opened fire at YouTube's headquarters in San Bruno, California, wounding three people before fatally shooting herself.

• Police believe the woman, Nasim Aghdam, was motivated by YouTube demonetizing and limiting the reach of her videos.

The big picture: Tech platforms have moved against the far right this month, worried over the risk of Trump and others inciting more violence following the Capitol attack.

• They're also less concerned about GOP backlash to moderation decisions now that Republicans are out of power in the White House and both chambers of Congress.

What's next: As the Biden presidency kicks off and the public hears from Trump via other mediums, the vitriol against employees may subside, at least from public view.

• Yes, but: We can't see what's going on in encrypted communications channels, where far-right groups and Trump supporters are increasingly moving after being kicked off mainstream channels.

Supporters who thought Trump was about to stop the inauguration, seize power and crush his enemies were left blinking in the sunlight Wednesday as President Biden took the oath of office, Axios' Kyle Daly reports.

Why it matters: It's an inflection point for anyone who realizes they've been strung along by QAnon and related strands of pro-Trump magical thinking. They could either retreat from conspiracy theories or tumble deeper down the rabbit hole.

Driving the news: Pro-Trump Telegram channels and other online forums were filled Wednesday with posts from users angry and disappointed that Trump did not black out U.S. communications networks and send in the military to arrest Biden and other Democrats and celebrities.

• "The military, law enforcement, fbi, cia, and doj all betrayed their oath to the constitution and the american people," read one top-ranked post on a leading pro-Trump forum.
• "Jesus was dead for three days before he was resurrected. Never lose hope," read another on a separate forum for QAnon believers.

Between the lines: Those two currents — frustration vs. lingering hope that there's still a grand plan to be revealed — dominated far-right online spaces Wednesday.

• Once Trump lost re-election, it was inevitable that it would come to this. QAnon-style thinking, in which a secret plan to secure total victory over the left is just around the corner, has grown increasingly central to many Trump supporters' worldview, as GOP Sen. Ben Sasse warned in The Atlantic last week.
• Biden's inauguration marked a hard stop of a sort that QAnon believers haven't had to confront since the conspiracy theory began in 2017.

The big picture: QAnon prophecies have failed before — all of them, in fact.

• But that hasn’t stopped QAnon from spinning out into a sort of grand unifying conspiracy theory, absorbing countless false beliefs about topics ranging from child trafficking to vaccines to medical masks.
• The question now is what happens to that broad coalition, now left angry and aimless.

What's next: "If #QAnon begins to splinter soon ... those who feel duped could grow exceedingly desperate & seek to lash out," tweeted Colin Clarke, director of policy and research at the Soufan Group, a security consulting firm. "Humiliation fuels rage."

Inauguration Day included one very modern wrinkle in the presidential transition, as official social media accounts changed hands.

Why it matters: Social media has emerged as one of the primary ways for elected officials and government agencies to communicate directly to the people.

Details:

• Just as the transition took place, Trump’s official @POTUS account became @POTUS45 and was archived, while the @POTUS handle turned over to what had been Biden’s transition account.
• Similar moves were made for dozens of other accounts for the vice president, first lady, press secretary and other administration officials.
• Twitter alerted followers to the change in a push alert, encouraging people to follow the new accounts.

Of note: The @POTUS followers didn't change over, with Trump's @POTUS45 retaining its 33.3 million followers. Trump himself remains permanently banned from the service.

Facebook followed a similar path, notes Axios' Sara Fischer, though it took somewhat longer for the transfer to take place.

• Unlike Twitter, Facebook uses a person's individual public "page" as their official account, so followers do transfer over.
• Trump remains indefinitely suspended from Facebook and Instagram.

Behind the scenes: About a dozen people at Twitter across several teams worked to manage the archiving, transition and launching of administration Twitter accounts at the exact moment President Biden took office. Over 50 accounts were archived or launched.

• Normally the groups would’ve worked together in person, but due to the pandemic few Twitter employees are in the office and the work was coordinated over a video call.

Epic Games, which is suing Apple over alleged anti-competitive practices, hired its first lobbyists this month to "monitor" antitrust issues in Washington, Axios' Lachlan Markay reports.

Why it matters: The Fortnite maker's case against Apple has potentially huge legal and financial stakes. The company's decision to enlist K Street veterans with connections on both sides of the aisle indicates it is tuning into D.C., where both parties have railed against anti-competitive practices in the tech industry.

What's new: Lobbying disclosure records filed Wednesday show Epic has brought on two firms — Subject Matter and Gibson Group — each geared toward one side of the political aisle.

Between the lines: Epic's decision to enlist lobbyists underscores the cross-partisan appeal of antitrust fights in Washington.

Korea's LG is weighing whether to exit the smartphone business as it tries to figure out what to do with the money-losing mobile division.

Why it matters: LG's struggles are similar to other big electronics companies that have struggled to gain enough of the business to turn a profit.

Driving the news: Reports LG might be seeking to get out of the smartphone began last week after Korean press reported an internal memo that mentioned the issue. LG basically confirmed as much.

• "LG Electronics is exploring a variety of options in light of the headwinds facing our mobile business," a spokesperson told Axios. "Any additional comments would be speculation."

On Tap

• Intel and IBM report earnings after the markets close.

Trading Places

• Online parenting and pregnancy benefits company Cleo is announcing three new hires for its predominantly female leadership team. Amy Kux (formerly of Cloudflare, Udemy and Unbabel) is joining as CFO, while former Redbull exec Andrea Lessard will be VP of people and Martin Payne will be chief commercial officer.

ICYMI

• Amazon offers to help Biden administration with COVID vaccine efforts (Axios)
• How the far right made itself a Russian intel target (Axios)
• Controversial USAGM CEO Michael Pack is out (Axios)
• Apple is reportedly working on a standalone VR headset that could launch by 2022. (Bloomberg)
• Google signed a deal with a French publishers' group to pay for news; the company is weighing striking such deals voluntarily in various countries to avoid being hit with new regulations. (Reuters)

I'm not sure I've ever wanted a rock as much as this agate, found in Brazil in November, that bears a striking resemblance to Cookie Monster.