Controversial celebrity chef and conspiracy theorist Pete Evans has been permanently booted off Instagram for sharing misinformation about the coronavirus and vaccines.
Facebook, which owns Instagram, confirmed it deleted Evans’ account on Wednesday.
The account had hundreds of thousands of followers.
“We removed Pete Evans’ account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,” the company said in a statement.
“We don’t allow anyone to share misinformation about COVID-19 that could lead to imminent physical harm or about COVID-19 vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts.”
Evans’ Facebook page was removed in December, but he continued to share misinformation through Instagram.
Facebook had earlier removed several of the chef’s Instagram posts for violating its policies on misinformation.
The company’s COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation policies were updated last week, with the company vowing to crack down on false claims.
On Wednesday, Facebook expanded the list of false claims it promises to remove, adding several more about coronavirus and the vaccines.
False claims that the company says won’t be tolerated include that COVID-19 is man-made, that it’s safer to get the disease than the vaccine, and that vaccines are toxic, dangerous or cause autism.
Facebook consulted with health groups like the World Health Organization before expanding the list.
Evans was a judge on My Kitchen Rules between 2010 and 2020.
He has repeatedly made posts opposing COVID-19 vaccines and masks, shared discredited coronavirus cures, and claimed in a podcast that the coronavirus is a hoax.
Evans regularly used his Instagram account to cast doubt on official information about COVID-19, vaccines, and other parts of mainstream science.
His company was fined more than $25,000 by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in April after he promoted a device called a ‘BioCharger’ on a Facebook live stream, claiming it could be used in relation to the coronavirus.
The TGA said the claim had “no apparent foundation”.
Evans announced last week he would run for federal parliament, standing as a Senate candidate for a fringe party set up by former One Nation senator Rod Culleton.
