Katie Hopkins suspended from Twitter

Katie Hopkins has had her Twitter account suspended for violating the terms of the social media site.

The right-wing commentator’s account is still visible online but Twitter said that the controversial Hopkins had been temporarily locked out of the platform for violating its anti-hate policy.

“Keeping Twitter safe is a top priority for us – abuse and harassment have no place on the service,” a spokesperson told the BBC.

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“These rules apply to everyone using our service – regardless of the account involved.”

The Guardian says that Hopkins, who came to fame as a contestant on The Apprentice, “regularly tweets pro-Trump, pro-Brexit and anti-immigration messages and has launched a series of attacks on the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan”.

She has more than one million Twitter followers, a number that was boosted after she was retweeted several times by the US president.

The Centre for Countering Digital Hate met Twitter bosses about Hopkins' “ability to use the platform to spread hate”.

Welcoming the suspension, it said: “There is a long road ahead before social media is made safe for dialogue, information exchange and the formation and maintenance of relationships. The fact parents are so hesitant and fearful of allowing children onto social media platforms shows how toxic many of these environments have become.”

The Mirror says the “far-right loudmouth” has suffered quite a fall in recent years. She had her passport confiscated and was prevented from leaving South Africa after being accused of “spreading racial hatred”.

She lost her house after losing a libel case sparked by her falsely accusing anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe of vandalising a war memorial. She also lost her LBC show when she called for a “final solution” in the wake of the Manchester bombing, and was ditched as a Sun columnist.

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