Katie Hopkins permanently banned by Twitter for breaking 'abuse and hate' rules
Having previously suspended the controversial figure for limited periods of time, the site says she has now been removed forever.
Saturday 20 June 2020 06:40, UK
Katie Hopkins has been permanently banned by Twitter for breaching its rules on "abuse and hateful conduct".
Hopkins, who first rose to fame in the third series of The Apprentice, has become renowned for airing controversial opinions on the platform and has previously been accused of using her account to incite racial hatred.
The 45-year-old former LBC presenter, who has tweeted in support of far-right figures such as English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, had her account frozen in January after a campaign by Countdown's Rachel Riley.
Twitter has suspended Hopkins in the past for limited periods of time, but has now opted to banish her from the site for good.
It is not clear what led to the company's latest intervention, but a spokesperson told Sky News: "Keeping Twitter safe is a top priority for us - abuse and hateful conduct have no place on our service and we will continue to take action when our rules are broken.
"In this case, the account has been permanently suspended for violations of our Hateful Conduct policy."
Ms Hopkins has been contacted for comment.
Despite being removed from the site, her name was the top trending topic on Twitter in the UK following the announcement of her suspension.
She has recently criticised the Black Lives Matter movement online and sparked a Twitter feud with England football star Marcus Rashford over his successful lobbying over the extension of the free school meal scheme.
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Previously, Hopkins has written for The Sun newspaper and the Mail Online.
She left LBC in 2017 following comments about the Manchester Arena terror attack.
In the same year, she lost a libel case against food blogger Jack Monroe, where she ended up paying out £24,000 in damages after suggesting they approved of defacing a war memorial during protests in London.
More recently she has been associated with the conservative Canadian organisation Rebel News.
Hopkins still has more than 60,000 subscribers on her personal YouTube channel, where she uploads speeches and videos giving her opinions about current affairs.