Etsy will remove all QAnon-related merchandise from the platform as tech companies fight the conspiracy theory's growth

• Digital marketplace Etsy has announced a ban on all items related to the QAnon conspiracy theory.
• "Our seller policies prohibit items that promote hate, incite violence, or promote or endorse harmful misinformation. In accordance with these policies, we are removing items related to 'QAnon' from our marketplace," an Etsy spokesperson told Insider in a statement Wednesday.
• QAnon, the far-right conspiracy theory, has continued to rapidly grow, while some followers of the theory have been linked to violent crimes.

Etsy is removing all merchandise linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory, a spokesperson told Insider on Wednesday.

QAnon, a baseless far-right conspiracy theory that claims President Donald Trump is secretly fighting a "deep state" cabal of human traffickers, has held a huge presence on the online marketplace, where independent users can sell apparel.

Etsy's QAnon content, which appears to already be absent from or unsearchable on the website Wednesday, included shirts, bumper stickers, and jewelry.

"Etsy is firmly committed to the safety of our marketplace and fostering an inclusive environment. Our seller policies prohibit items that promote hate, incite violence, or promote or endorse harmful misinformation. In accordance with these policies, we are removing items related to 'QAnon' from our marketplace," the Etsy spokesperson told Insider in an email.

Etsy banned QAnon on the same grounds it used to ban items related to the Proud Boys extremist group, as The Verge reported Tuesday.

The announcement comes as other social media and e-commerce platforms grapple with the rapidly growing conspiracy theory movement. Amazon has also been criticized for hosting QAnon products on its platform and, on Tuesday, Facebook said it would ban all QAnon content from its platforms.

The FBI said in a bulletin from its Phoenix bureau last year that QAnon posed a potential domestic terrorism threat. QAnon followers have been linked to several violent crimes and kidnappings, and the movement's most basic tenets are compiled from misinformation.

• Read more:
• Amazon is chockfull of products promoting the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory even as fellow tech giants like Facebook, TikTok, Google, and Twitter crack down
• How QAnon is hooking Americans with its 'save the children' anti-pedophilia rhetoric
• QAnon conspiracy theorists have been linked to a killing and multiple armed stand-offs. Here are the criminal allegations connected to the movement and its followers.
• Citigroup fires employee who ran popular QAnon conspiracy theory website