Facebook that owns Instagram announced that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an avowed anti-vaxxer has been banned from the platform.  He has consistently disseminated false information regarding vaccines and has lobbied state legislatures and Congress to grant a broad exemption from requirements mandating childhood vaccination. 

Kennedy operates Children's Health Defense, a nonprofit that is skeptical of the health benefits of vaccines and is widely criticized by the scientific and medical establishment. He and his views on vaccination have been condemned by family members including his niece Dr. Kerry Kennedy-Meltzer who authored an opinion piece in the New York Times in late December expressing the opinion that his views were “dangerously wrong”.

The Facebook page operated by Kennedy will however remain active and mischievous and misleading postings still appear.

Kennedy is a misguided zealot strenuously opposed to intensive livestock production and has supported many initiatives detrimental to agriculture, industry and U.S. many institutions.