Far-right U.K. activist Tommy Robinson has been banned by Facebook and Instagram for violating the platforms’ community standards.
Facebook said in a statement Tuesday that it removed Robinson’s official profiles on the networks over anti-Muslim content that the company said “has repeatedly broken” anti-hate speech standards.
“Tommy Robinson’s Facebook Page has repeatedly broken these standards, posting material that uses dehumanizing language and calls for violence targeted at Muslims,” Facebook said. “He has also behaved in ways that violate our policies around organized hate.
“This is not a decision we take lightly, but individuals and organizations that attack others on the basis of who they are have no place on Facebook or Instagram.”
{mosads}The 35-year-old Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, founded the anti-Muslim “English Defense League,” a group that has organized violent protests against Muslims in the U.K. for years.
He previously spent 13 months in jail for violating the country’s laws limiting publicity of criminal trials after live-streaming video outside of a courthouse. It was reported last July that President Trump’s ambassador for international religious freedom pressured the U.K. on Robinson’s treatment while in jail. The State Department pushed back on the report, however, saying the “characterizations” of the meeting were “completely false.”
In banning Robinson, Facebook also pointed to his offline activity.
“When ideas and opinions cross the line and amount to hate speech that may create an environment of intimidation and exclusion for certain groups in society – in some cases with potentially dangerous offline implications – we take action,” the statement read.
Robinson still has a profile on YouTube, though the website suspended advertising on his channel last month. He was banned from Twitter and PayPal last year.