Society's Child

Twitter permanently suspends David Icke's account over coronavirus misinformation UPDATE: Icke talks to RT

Rory Sullivan
Independent
Wed, 04 Nov 2020 10:41 UTC

Decision comes six months after conspiracy theorist's YouTube and Facebook accounts were banned.

Twitter has permanently suspended David Icke's account, after the conspiracy theorist breached its rules by making false claims about coronavirus.

"The account referenced has been permanently suspended for violating Twitter's rules regarding Covid misinformation," a Twitter spokesperson said.

The decision comes after the former footballer had his YouTube and Facebook accounts terminated six months ago for spreading falsehoods.

The 68-year-old, who espouses discredited theories including one that links the coronavirus to the 5G mobile network, had more than 380,000 followers on Twitter.

The move from Twitter follows a warning in July that it would "continue to remove demonstrably false or potentially misleading content that has the highest risk of causing harm".

Rachel Riley, the Countdown presenter, was among those who celebrated the social media giant's decision to remove Mr Icke from its platform.

"The UK's foremost hate peddler/conspiracy grifter has finally been chucked off Twitter," Ms Riley tweeted on Tuesday evening.

The Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), which says that Mr Icke's Covid-19 conspiracies have been viewed tens of millions of times, criticised Twitter for taking so long to remove him, saying it had allowed him to disseminate "anti-Semitic hatred and dangerous Covid misinformation for months".

Comment: Love him or hate him, Icke is not anti-Semitic.

His suspension comes after Kate Shemirani, another high-profile conspiracy theorist in the UK, had her Twitter account suspended last Thursday over misinformation.

Mr Icke, who has made prominent appearances at anti-lockdown rallies in London in recent months, still has an Instagram page, which has more than 200,000 followers.

Over the weekend, he posted a video on the Facebook-owned platform in which he encourages people to "choose freedom". It has now been more viewed more than 85,000 times.

Comment: Choose freedom?! You can't say that! Shut him down!

UPDATE: David Icke spoke to RT about his permanent suspension:

Silicon Valley giants 'set out to silence me,' coronavirus denialist David Icke tells RT after perma-ban on Twitter
6 Nov, 2020 10:44

Twitter has permanently suspended the account of controversial UK author David Icke, saying it violated Twitter's rules regarding Covid misinformation. YouTube and Facebook zapped Icke's accounts in early May for the same reason.

The ban hit this week as Icke's Twitter handle boasted more than 380,000 followers. But it didn't come as news to the controversial speaker and author, who said in an interview with RT on Thursday that he was temporarily banned at least twice, in September and in October, before getting the boot for good.

Icke's trouble with the platform came as it tightened its rules regarding spread of coronavirus-related "misinformation" and questioning the pandemic in any fashion. Previous offending posts have fetched him two 7-days suspensions, sharing articles doubting the usefulness of face masks, as well as alleging the true purpose of Covid-19 rapid tests in the UK.

The last post, which ultimately resulted in the permanent ban, criticized the UK government's plans to stage a pilot city-wide coronavirus testing scheme in Liverpool. Icke alleged that the real purpose of this endeavor was to give citizens faked positive tests and to "impose ever more extreme fascism" as a result.

The move by Twitter, however, only proves his point, Icke believes. "It is going to dawn on the media, probably far too late, that what I've been saying is true. So that puts into context why the Silicon Valley giant corporations like Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter are set out to silence me. It's very simple," Icke stated.
People should ask themselves what is going on when the Silicon Valley corporations actually say publicly that we're going to censor anyone and anything that challenges the World Health Organization version of this fake pandemic.
Icke pointed out striking similarities in how most countries have tackled the pandemic, claiming the restrictions were actually imposed by mysterious handlers from the World Health Organization (WHO), who maneuvered governments into ushering in the global dictatorship. Icke went as far as to allege the Covid-19 virus does not exist, claiming it had never been "isolated" by scientists.

Such extreme views have already resulted in Icke's expulsion from YouTube and Facebook earlier this year. The London-based Center for Countering Digital Hate, which has actively campaigned against Icke for months, has estimated his fellowship dropped significantly after he was removed from mainstream platforms. The organization has called on Big Tech firms to "act on other racists and antivaxxers spreading dangerous lies."

So far, only Icke's Instagram account has been spared the tightening censorship of the mainstream social media giants. On the Facebook-owned platform, Icke boasts more than 200,000 followers. Despite his waning presence on a number of platforms, Icke's materials are readily available from his personal website, as well as from accounts on other, lesser known - and less censorship-prone - sites, including YouTube alternative BitChute, as well as social media platforms like Gab, VK and others.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic late last year, social media platforms have come under increasing pressure to regulate misinformation on Covid-19. In March, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Reddit, Twitter and YouTube issued a joint statement on the need to join forces to "combat fraud and misinformation about the virus."

However, the platforms are often criticized by users - among them doctors, scientists, politicians and activists - for "flagging" posts for merely discussing Covid-19 mortality rates, or even taking down accounts altogether for allegedly spreading "falsehoods" about the health crisis.