Alex Berenson, the former New York Times reporter who became the leading face of COVID-19 disinformation, has been permanently suspended from Twitter. “The account ... has been permanently suspended for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation rules,” a Twitter spokesperson told NBC News. Berenson repeatedly used the platform to sow doubt about COVID-19 treatments that have proven safe and effective, including the vaccines. When his claims were attacked on Twitter, he would take his falsehoods to Fox News, repeatedly making appearances on shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight. Berenson even filmed a special for the network’s streaming service Fox Nation, in which he downplayed the seriousness of COVID-19. His crusade eventually earned him a profile in The Atlantic titled “The Pandemic’s Wrongest Man.”

Within an hour of his ban, Berenson appeared to tweet from another Twitter account. “Hello Team Reality! Slim Shady here,” the first tweet since 2015 from @GenRescue read. The account, which had “definitely not Alex Berenson” as its bio, also linked to Berenson’s Substack account.