The Islamophobic media personality Katie Hopkins has had her Twitter account suspended after complaints from “anti-hate campaigners.”
Hopkins, who was repeatedly given a prominent mainstream media presence by the BBC, The Sun, the Daily Mail, LBC radio and many others, has more than one million followers on Twitter.
Twitter confirmed that Hopkins had been temporarily locked out of her account for violating its hateful conduct policy. The social media giant said: “Abuse and harassment have no place on the service. We take enforcement action against any account that is violative of our rules.”
The suspension came after the “anti-hate campaigner” Rachel Riley met Twitter representatives with the Centre for Countering Digital Hate in a call to remove Hopkins’ account.
CEO Imran Ahmed said: “We are pleased that preliminary action appears to have been taken by Twitter against the identity-based hate actor, Katie Hopkins following productive discussions with Twitter’s UK office. There is a long road ahead before social media is made safe for dialogue, information exchange and the formation and maintenance of relationships.
“The fact parents are so hesitant and fearful of allowing children onto social media platforms shows how toxic many of these environments have become. We believe social media can empower the world to be even better, but handing megaphones to hate actors is irresponsible and dangerous.”
Meanwhile, Countdown presenter Rachel Riley confirmed that she had also asked for George Galloway’s account to be taken down.
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Riley did not elaborate on the reasons why but she is well known for her pro-Israel stance and her fierce criticism of Jeremy Corbyn over the anti-semitism issue. Both these political positions are at odds with Galloway’s.
Hopkins has not yet commented on the suspension but fellow right-wing commentator Anne Marie Waters said left-wing activist groups had taken down their opponents.
“We know that the tech giants are dominated by the left-wing and they have no problem with cutting off or shutting down their opponents because they are left-wing and that’s the left-wing thing to d0. Heaven bid they should engage in any debate, but rather they censor and silence.”
Hopkins has lost several mainstream and non-mainstream platforms over the past few years after protests at her repeated targeting of Muslims and immigrants, among others, became more strident.
In 2018 she was forced to sell her family home after facing financial difficulties after she lost a High Court battle to poverty campaigner and food blogger Jack Monroe.
