Meta Reactivates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Instagram Account After Becoming A US Presidential Candidate

JAKARTA - Meta Platform Inc., owner of Instagram, on Sunday 4 June removed the suspension of the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. account, the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, as reported by The Washington Post.

Kennedy, who is trying his small chance of challenging Joe Biden in Democratic candidacy, has been removed from the photo-sharing platform in 2021 for allegedly sharing claims that have been denied regarding COVID-19 in violation of platform policies related to the pandemic.

"Since he is now an active candidate for president of the United States, we have returned access to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Instagram account," Meta spokesman Andy Stone said in a statement as reported by the newspaper.

On Thursday, June 1, Kennedy in a series of his tweets stated that Instagram has yet to reactivate its account and that "to silence a major political candidate is highly undemocratic."

In 2019, Kennedy's relatives, including trace Kennedy Townsend, Joseph P. Kennedy II, and Maeve Kennedy McKean, wrote an opinion article at Politico criticizing Kennedy's previous statement on vaccines as "mistakeful information."

In September 2021, Alphabet Inc's YouTube also banned channels linked to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and another prominent anti-vaccine activist, Joseph Mercola.Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.