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David Icke’s Facebook page erased as pressure mounts on social networks companies

Conspiracy theorist David Icke has had his main Facebook page deleted in the middle of installing require social networks companies to combat “hazardous misinformation”.

Icke, a previous sports analyst, is a vocal backer of the conspiracy theory that 5G innovation spreads out coronavirus, which has actually triggered a wave of attacks on engineers and masts.

Doctors, MPs and counter-extremism campaigners are calling on internet giants to stop their platforms being used to “enhance Icke’s bigotry and false information about Covid-19 to countless individuals”.

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It comes after broadcaster London Live was approved for an interview with the conspiracy theorist, and ITV speaker Eamonn Holmes apologised for recommending that rejecting 5G claims “fits the state story”.

Research study by Ofcom shows that 5G conspiracy theories are the most typical piece of false information that members of the British public encounter online.

A letter signed by Dr Christian Jessen, of Channel 4’s Humiliating Bodies, Countdown‘s Rachel Riley and the previous culture secretary Damian Collins said: “In the face of this international pandemic that has actually already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, it is more urgent than ever that accounts spreading out damaging false information are prevented from doing so.”

Icke, whose other claims consist of that the world is run by reptiles and the royal household are lizards, has actually connected coronavirus to 5G, blamed Jewish cults, declared it can not be transferred through physical contact or that people with health immune systems are safe.

The false information, which might trigger people to overlook medical recommendations, has been viewed a minimum of 30 million times according to analysis by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).

One video, in which Icke declares the Jewish Rothschild household helped prepare the coronavirus outbreak, is the 27th most viewed video about the infection on YouTube.

‘ Covid 19 is fake David Icke.com’ is scrawled on a details indication at Mudchute Farm on the Island of Dogs, east London, as the UK continues in lockdown to assist suppress the spread of the coronavirus (Yui Mok/PA Wire).

A report by the CCDH stated Icke’s online audience had actually grown by practically 400,000 new followers and customers since March, which both he and online platforms were benefiting from ads.

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” class=” newslettertype” value=” receiveIndyHeadlinesNews “concealed =”



Register with your social account or click here to visit< input no-verify="" type="text" name =" newsItemType" class =" newslettertype" worth =" receiveIndyHeadlinesNews" concealed="" >< input on="tap: AMP.setState ()" id =" gs-receive-0 "type =" checkbox" role =" button "tabindex =" 1 "name =" receiveIndyHeadlinesNews" needed =" "> I would like to get early morning headings Monday – Friday plus breaking news informs by email The letter, which was likewise signed by campaign groups consisting of Hope not Dislike and the Neighborhood Security Trust, was addressed to the heads of Facebook, YouTube, where Icke has 899,000 subscribers, Twitter, where Icke’s account has

288,000 followers, and Amazon.” There is an ethical responsibility on each of you to act,” it stated. “Please remove David Icke from your platforms.”

It was published on Friday early morning, as Facebook appears to have actually gotten rid of Icke’s primary account, which had almost 800,000 “likes”.

But the “David Icke– Headlines” page, with a smaller sized following of 68,000, and London Real, an account with 586,000 fans that frequently publishes interviews with Icke, remained online.

A post on Icke’s site called Facebook “fascist”, and included a message from Facebook reading: “Your page has been unpublished for breaking the Facebook Community Standards on health misinformation that could trigger physical damage.”

Polling previously commissioned by Hope Not Hate found that 51 per cent of British people had actually become aware of Icke, and one in eight had actually read or enjoyed his claims in the previous six months.

Broadcaster London Live was approved by Ofcom for speaking with Icke and YouTube and Facebook got rid of the video footage.

However the CCDH report said the “piecemeal” reaction enabled Icke to launch a fresh drive for new followers utilizing the promotion, resulting in a huge expansion of his audience.

Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the CCDH, said: “While people all over the world make huge sacrifices to stall this pandemic, social media companies are rather making money from the expansion of misinformation on their platforms.

” Misinformation puts all of our lives at risk by encouraging the general public not to adhere to medical assistance.

” It’s time to stop providing valuable airtime on their platform to the most unsafe voices and instead join with the rest people in attempting to contain this deadly pandemic. The careless endangerment of public security by greedy social media companies should stop.”

This content was originally published here.

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Posted May 3, 2020