Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Banned From Instagram For Spreading Anti-Vax Views

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will no longer be able to share his thoughts on Instagram after using the social media app to post controversial content about the COVID-19 vaccine.

On Wednesday, Facebook, which owns Instagram, announced Kennedy will be banned from using the app, CNN reported.

“We removed this account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,” a spokesperson for Facebook said in a statement.

Over the years, the nephew of late President John F. Kennedy has been a vocal anti-vaxxer who lobbied Congress about allowing parents to be exempt from state mandates requiring children to get vaccinated.

Although he is no longer allowed on Instagram, the company does not plan to disable Kennedy’s Facebook account “at this time,” Variety reports.

A rep for the company told the outlet users are allowed to post various content on different sites. RFK Jr. had more than 800,000 followers on Instagram before he was banned. His Facebook page has around 300,000 followers.

Kennedy’s ban from Instagram comes after the company announced it would be cracking down on removing false content about vaccines and COVID-19 from the site.

On Monday, Facebook announced it would be expanding the list of misinformation that would be removed from the website, including claims that vaccines are toxic, dangerous, or cause autism, as well as false statements that COVID-19 is man-made or manufactured.

“We will begin enforcing this policy immediately, with a particular focus on Pages, groups, and accounts that violate these rules, and we’ll continue to expand our enforcement over the coming weeks,” read the announcement in a blog post.

“Groups, Pages, and accounts on Facebook and Instagram that repeatedly share these debunked claims may be removed altogether.”

The company has already removed around 12 million posts from Instagram and Facebook that were determined to be misinformation about COVID.