Instagram bans top anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over COVID falsehoods

Enlarge / Robert Kennedy Jr. heads up to a meeting at Trump Tower on January 10, 2017 in New York City. (credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Instagram has permanently banned the account of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an infamous and prolific peddler of dangerous anti-vaccine and COVID-19 misinformation.

The move will likely be cheered by public health advocates who have struggled to combat such harmful bunkum online during the devastating pandemic. However, Kennedy's account on Facebook-which owns Instagram-remained active Thursday and lists over 300,000 followers.

In an email to Ars, a Facebook spokesperson said Kennedy's Instagram account was removed for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines." The account had over 800,000 followers prior to its removal, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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