Instagram has banned anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for sharing lies about the coronavirus vaccine. At the time of his account’s disbarring, Kennedy had roughly 800,000 followers. A spokesperson for Facebook, which owns Instagram, said in a statement, “We removed this account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines.” Kennedy is the most prominent anti-vaxxer in the United States and traded on his family name to lead celebrities and other famous figures into the dark waters of vaccine hesitancy, even bringing anti-vaccination skepticism into Trump Tower to discuss with former President Donald Trump. The World Health Organization has designated vaccine hesitancy a major threat to public health, especially as vaccination efforts against COVID-19 ramp up.
