Tweet to Welsh rugby player is reason Katie Hopkins is banned from Twitter
Katie Hopkins was banned from Twitter for a message she sent to Welsh rugby player Ashton Hewitt, it has emerged.
The former Apprentice star turned far-right commentator has been permanently suspended from the platform for breaking its rules on hate speech, the social media giant has confirmed.
Hewitt, who plays for the Dragons, tweeted that “Katie Hopkins is f****** toxic” after she appeared to mock the Black Lives Matter protests.
She tweeted: "Today is #whiteoutwednesday. I will shortly be posting a picture of my a***. Thank you."
Responding to Hewitt, Hopkins said: “Am I? He better be hung like a baboon…#katiehopkins.”
Hopkins said this was the post that Twitter banned Hopkins for as it violated their rules against hateful conduct.
Defending her post on her Instagram page, she said it was a reference to the television show 'Blackadder'.
Hewitt recently told ITV News he has had abuse from "children and parents as well, as bad as monkey chants… I must have been 11 or 12 years old.''
On Twitter, Hewitt said he didn't realise he was the reason Hopkins is banned from the platform.
In a statement, a Twitter spokesman said Hopkins’ account had been shut down for breaking the site’s rules around hateful content.
“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,” the company said.
“In this case, the account has been permanently suspended for violations of our Hateful Conduct policy.”
According to Twitter’s website, that policy prohibits promoting violence against or directly attacking or threatening people based on race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religion, age, disability or serious disease.
Hopkins has sparked outrage on numerous occasions in recent years with comments on race, religion and immigration.
She has been heavily criticised in the past for her comments, including comparing migrants to cockroaches and claiming the photograph of a dead Syrian boy lying on a beach that sparked a wave of compassion across Europe was staged, as well as stating that dementia sufferers should not block hospital beds.
She has also recently criticised the Black Lives Matter movement as well as the Government’s decision to offer free meals to children during school holidays – a campaign driven by Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford.