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Frankish anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been banned from Instagram, a spokesperson said.
His account was deleted on Wednesday for “repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,” said a spokesperson for Facebook, which owns Instagram.
Kennedy’s Facebook page was still active Thursday morning.
When asked if this account would also be banned, the spokesperson said, “We don’t automatically deactivate accounts in our apps because accounts can post information about different things on our different services.”
On Monday, Facebook announced it was stepping up efforts to crack down on accounts that spread false claims about the coronavirus pandemic or about vaccines, including Covid-19 vaccines. The company said it also makes it more difficult to find such accounts through the search function.
“We continue to improve search results on our platforms. When people search for vaccine or Covid-19 related content on Facebook, we promote relevant, authoritative results and provide third-party resources to connect people to expert vaccine information, ”he said. added. version states. “On Instagram, in addition to showing authoritative research results, we will make it harder in the coming weeks to find accounts that discourage people from getting the vaccine.”
Kennedy, the son of former US senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, has spoken out against vaccinations for years. In May 2019, several members of his family wrote in an editorial that his controversial claims had “helped to spread dangerous misinformation.”
“We love Bobby. He is one of the great champions of the environment,” Sister Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Brother Joseph P. Kennedy II and niece Maeve Kennedy McKean wrote for Politico. “However, on vaccines, he is wrong.”
Kennedy did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
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