Twitter terminates David Icke’s account over Covid misinformation

David Icke has had his Twitter account permanently suspended after the conspiracy theorist was ruled to have been spreading coronavirus misinformation.

The 68-year-old had violated Twitter's rules according to a spokesperson for the social media platform, as the former TV personality shared his controversial thoughts on Covid-19.

In a blog post from July 14, the company wrote: "We will continue to remove demonstrably false or potentially misleading content that has the highest risk of causing harm."

Icke had his YouTube and Facebook accounts terminated in early May for the same reason.

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.

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.

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