Facebook Permanently Bans Australian Politician Craig Kelly For Covid-19 Misinformation

Craig Kelly has been permanently booted from Facebook for sharing coronavirus misinformation.

The controversial Independent MP has spent much of the pandemic promoting unsupported treatments for Covid-19 and theories about the virus that went against official information.

Some of his more edgy posts were simply pulled down for violating Facebook's Misinformation and Harm policy.

However, after months of posting without firm action, the social media company has decided to get rid of him forever.

ITV

In a statement, a Facebook spokesman said: "We have clear policies against this type of content and have removed Mr Kelly's Facebook page for repeated violations of this policy."

The company said it doesn't allow 'anyone, including elected officials, to share misinformation about COVID-19 that could lead to imminent physical harm, or COVID-19 vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts'.

Mr Kelly is clearly taking the decision well and has posted a statement to Twitter.

"FACEBOOK ATTACKS FREEDOM OF POLITICAL SPEECH," he wrote. "It's wrong to censor the free speech of elected officials as it threatens our democracy.

"It's NOT misinformation to have a difference of opinion. The idea that the faceless people of Facebook are purveyors of all truth is OUTRAGEOUS !"

The Facebook page that's been banned is simply the one he uses for official political business. Facebook has allowed Mr Kelly to keep his personal Facebook account and his Instagram account.

Under the ban, he will be prevented from creating another page to promote his coronavirus theories and ideas.

Mr Kelly defected from the Liberal Party earlier this year following a few public showdown between himself and senior government ministers about his social media conduct.

Labor's Tanya Plibersek publicly confronted him in Parliament and asked him about some of the things he was posting.

Then, Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the Member for Hughes to explain how he needed to toe the party's line about coronavirus information.

Despite getting pulled in by the top dog, he was then suspended from Facebook for seven days for a series of controversial posts.

One likened the wearing of face masks to child abuse and others promoted ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as treatment options. It resulted in a seven-day Facebook ban, which he called 'very sad day for freedom of speech'.

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie