Far right British commentator and former newspaper columnist Katie Hopkins has had her Twitter account suspended just hours after complaining that her blue ‘verified’ check mark had been removed.
The former reality TV star has a long history of pro-Trump, pro-Brexit and anti-immigration views.
Hopkins has been heavily criticised in the past for her comments, including comparing migrants to cockroaches and claiming the photograph of a dead Syrian boy lying on a beach that sparked a wave of compassion across Europe was staged, as well as stating that dementia sufferers should not block hospital beds.
According to Twitter’s website, that policy prohibits promoting violence against or directly attacking or threatening people based on race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religion, age, disability or serious disease.
A Twitter spokesperson said: “Keeping Twitter safe is a top priority for us – abuse and hateful conduct have no place on our service and we will continue to take action when our rules are broken.
“In this case, the account has been permanently suspended for violations of our hateful conduct policy.”
Rashford
The controversial figure also faced a backlash for her criticism of Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford following his successful campaign to continue free school meals, over the summer period.
Hopkins tweeted: “Dear Marcus Rashford, do you think women should think about how they are going to feed a child before they decide to have it?
“I do not want to pay to feed other people’s kids. You are welcome to. Thank you, Katie Hopkins.”
Related – U-turns, blunders & missed targets dominate Govt’s pandemic response