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David Icke. Photo: Tyler Merbler via Wikimedia Commons.
Facebook has removed the official page of British antisemitic conspiracy theorist David Icke for publishing “health misinformation that could cause physical harm,” the BBC reported on Friday.
According to the report, the 68-year-old Icke — a bestselling author who believes that an alien race of humanoid reptiles secretly controls the world — has promoted a number of false claims about the coronavirus, including a charge that Jews are responsible for the pandemic.
Icke tweeted on Friday, “Fascist Facebook deletes David Icke – the elite are TERRIFIED of him because they are terrified of the truth.”
The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) has launched a campaign to have Icke widely deplatformed.
In an open letter to social media companies, the CCDH wrote, “We, the undersigned, call on you to remove David Icke’s accounts from each of your platforms.”
“Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Icke has used your platforms to spread dangerous conspiracy theories and medical misinformation to his audience of millions of followers and subscribers,” it said. “The potentially harmful claims he has made include denying the existence of Covid-19; linking the current crisis to 5G mobile technology; suggesting that Jewish cultists are behind the crisis; that viruses cannot be transmitted through direct physical contact or intermediary objects; and that people with healthy immune systems are safe from contracting the virus. Videos of Icke making these claims have been viewed at least 30 million times.”
“During this time, we have seen a spate of arson attacks on 5G masts, which Icke has claimed are being erected under the cover of lockdown,” the letter continued. “A recent academic study suggests that belief in conspiracy theories, of the type promoted by Icke on your platforms, makes members of the public less likely to follow the official guidance to wash their hands regularly, stay at home, and socially distance.”
“That Icke would use his accounts on your platforms in this way could have been predicted,” it noted. “He has been using them to spread racism, medical misinformation and conspiracy theories for years. Whether it’s fake news stories about Muslims cancelling Christmas and the legalisation of rape by Muslim men, implying that migrants are morally inferior, using racist imagery, or the conspiracy theory that Jews are secretly behind antisemitic attacks on their own communities, Icke has consistently violated your terms.”
The letter concluded, “In the face of this global pandemic that has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, it is more urgent than ever that accounts spreading harmful misinformation are prevented from doing so. There is a moral duty on each of you to act. Please remove David Icke from your platforms.”