After ban, new 'Stop the Steal' Groups spread conspiracy theories on Facebook
Facebook banned a "Stop the Steal" Group with more than 360,000 members on Thursday for spreading misinformation.
On Friday morning, two more "Stop the Steal" Groups — one with more than 84,000 members, the other with more than 46,000 — took its place. They occupied the top two spots on a list of Groups with the most interactions on Facebook on Friday, according to CrowdTangle, an analytics tool owned by Facebook. Both were created on Nov. 5.
In both Groups, members pushed debunked conspiracy theories, many involving watermarks and mail-in ballots.
A member of one asked, "What would our forefathers had done in this situation?" In the comments, several users suggested they would have shot or hanged Democrats. Some said they would have started a civil war.
Mashable reached out to Facebook for comment, and will update this story if the company responds.
Conspiracy theories have been mentioned by Donald Trump supporters at real-world events, like a protest outside of the Maricopa County Elections Department office in Phoenix, Arizona. As poll workers counted votes inside, protesters outside pushed the debunked #SharpieGate conspiracy theory. On Thursday night, police reportedly arrested two men with weapons in a Hummer adorned with a QAnon sticker near the Philadelphia Convention Center, where votes for the swing state of Pennsylvania are being counted.
Topics Facebook
Keith Wagstaff is an assistant editor at Mashable and a terrible Settlers of Catan player. He has written for TIME, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, NBC News, The Village Voice, VICE, GQ and New York Magazine, among many other reputable and not-so-reputable publications. After nearly a decade in New York City, he now lives in his native Los Angeles.
