Twitter have permanently suspended conspiracy theorist David Icke’s account.
A spokesman for the social media platform said the 68-year-old had violated its rules regarding coronavirus misinformation.
In a blog post from July 14th, the company wrote: “We will continue to remove demonstrably false or potentially misleading content that has the highest risk of causing harm.”
The move follows YouTube and Facebook terminating Mr Icke’s accounts in early May for the same reason.
Goodbye! 👋 https://t.co/9k12utsYrI
Advertisement— Rachel Riley 💙 (@RachelRileyRR) November 3, 2020
The former footballer has made controversial unproven claims about the virus on several internet platforms, including a discredited theory that it is linked to the 5G mobile network.
Famous medics including Dr Christian Jessen and former junior doctor Adam Kay have called on social networks to remove him from their platforms.
They are backed by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), who claim his conspiracies over Covid-19 have been viewed more than 30 million times.
In 48 hours both Facebook and YouTube have deleted David Icke after our report on his toxic COVID-19 misinformation.
Now we need @Instagram and @Twitter to follow suit.
800 people have signed our #DeplatformIcke open letter. Add your name here: https://t.co/BQ6RIIi6Rr pic.twitter.com/7jO3S75PB2Advertisement— Center for Countering Digital Hate (@CCDHate) May 2, 2020
CCDH had called for Twitter and Instagram, the latter of which is owned by Facebook, to permanently ban the ex-goalkeeper and his content from their platforms.
The centre said after the latest removal: “Twitter had allowed him to continue spreading anti-Semitic hatred and dangerous Covid misinformation for months.”
Countdown presenter Rachel Riley celebrated Mr Icke’s departure from the the popular website, tweeting: “The UK’s foremost hate peddler/conspiracy grifter has finally been chucked off Twitter.”
Mr Icke’s Instagram page, which has 212,000 followers, is still active and posted a video on the weekend of him telling a large crowd in Birmingham to “choose freedom”. The video has been viewed more than 85,000 times.
