A conspiracy theorist has had his Youtube account shut down for promoting unverified COVID-19 claims.
Former footballer David Icke has recently been under fire for suggesting coronavirus is linked to 5G, blaming Jewish cults for the pandemic and claiming it can't be transmitted via physical contact.
Now social media companies are taking action to prevent the spread of misleading information with Facebook cancelling his account on Friday and now Youtube following suit.
"YouTube has clear policies prohibiting any content that disputes the existence and transmission of COVID-19 as described by the WHO (World Health Organisation) and the NHS (National Health Service)," a spokesperson for Youtube told BBC.
"Due to continued violation of these policies, we have terminated David Icke's YouTube channel."
Icke had been publicly called out by multiple medical professionals and the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) who claim Icke's coronavirus conspiracies have been viewed more than 30 million times.
"We commend YouTube on bowing to pressure and taking action on David Icke’s channel," said CCDH's chief executive Imran Ahmed, the Guardian reported.
"However, there remains a network of channels and shadowy amplifiers, who promote Mr Icke's content [and] need to be removed."
They are calling for Twitter and Instagram to also remove Icke from their platforms.
"Lies cost lives in a global pandemic, and their failure to act promptly puts us all at risk."
Before it was deleted, Icke's channel had over 900,000 subscribers and his latest video had over 120,000 views.
YouTube confirmed Icke would not be allowed to set up a new channel but other users will be able to post videos of Icke as long as their content doesn't break the rules.
