Oct 15 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's YouTube said on Thursday it was banning content that targets an individual or a group using conspiracy theories such as QAnon or Pizzagate. 

The company announced in a blog post that it was updating its hate speech and harassment policies to prohibit “content that targets an individual or group with conspiracy theories that have been used to justify real-world violence.”

The new policy will prohibit content promoting QAnon, as well as related conspiracy theories such as Pizzagate, which falsely claims that top Democrats and Hollywood elites are running an underground sex-trafficking ring from the basement of a Washington pizza restaurant.

YouTube's move follows recent crackdowns announced by other major social media companies, including Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc, against QAnon content.

QAnon is an unfounded and sprawling conspiracy theory that baselessly claims U.S. President Donald Trump is secretly fighting a cabal of child-sex predators that includes prominent Democrats, Hollywood elites and 'deep state' allies. It was named by the FBI as a potential instigator of domestic terrorism.

The conspiracy theory also borrows some elements from the bogus Pizzagate theory about a pedophile ring run out of a Washington, D.C., restaurant.