Owen Benjamin, a right-wing comedian who regularly shares and creates hateful and anti-Semitic content online, was suspended from Instagram and Facebook Friday “following multiple violations of our policies,” a Facebook spokesperson told Right Wing Watch. Benjamin’s ban from Instagram and Facebook follows his permanent suspension from YouTube, reported earlier this month.
The suspension came after Right Wing Watch shared a collection of more than 170 racist and anti-Semitic posts Benjamin had shared on his Instagram page with Instagram and requested comment from the company. In the posts, which were assembled by a source and provided to Right Wing Watch, Benjamin spread hate against Jewish people and other minorities and perpetuated asinine conspiracy theories including claims that dinosaurs never existed and that the world is flat.
Benjamin is now limited to broadcasting on the livestreaming website DLive, which has become a haven for alt-right commentators banned from streaming on YouTube, and on a site operated by alt-right blogger Theodore “Vox Day” Beale. Patreon, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have all suspended Benjamin from using their platforms.
Benjamin was bolstered by right-wing media throughout 2017 and 2018 as a politically incorrect standup comic worth celebrating on account of his bigoted jokes, appearing in videos for Dennis Prager’s PragerU, on episodes of Steven Crowder’s show, and in a podcast episode hosted by a commentator for The Daily Wire. With such exposure, Benjamin’s content, which grew more extreme and hateful as he stewed in far-right political spaces, attracted a sizable audience. Earlier this year, Right Wing Watch declared Benjamin a “red pill overdose victim” and wrote:
Benjamin is a classic example of what can happen to people who think they’ve swallowed the “red pill” promise of truth—a “truth” that bears little resemblance to everyday reality—and take it fully to heart. What started with a flirtation with so-called “alt-media” and right-wing internet personalities who dabble in conspiracy theories has resulted in Benjamin now spouting anti-Semitic conspiracy tropes, doubting the authenticity of the moon landing, believing the Holocaust was exaggerated, and rubbing shoulders on-air with white nationalists.
Right Wing Watch followed up our reporting on Benjamin’s rhetoric in March, noting that it had become even more extreme. Benjamin has denied the Holocaust and spoken favorably about Hitler, claimed that Jews and gays destroy civilizations, and promised that one day he would call for violence.
