Laurence Fox banned from Twitter for posting 'hateful image' of LGBT Pride swastika

27 June 2022, 13:01 | Updated: 27 June 2022, 13:03

Laurence Fox was temporarily banned from Twitter after he posted a "hateful image" of a swastika made from the LGBT Pride flag.

Twitter suspended the former actor and right-wing political activist after he changed his profile picture to the manipulated Pride flag.

"Oh blessed and most holy month!" Laurence captioned his new profile picture on Sunday, seemingly referring to Pride Month.

He was condemned for sharing the image, manipulated out of four Pride flags, just days after a gunman killed two people during the Oslo Pride festival.

The 44-year-old, who starred in the British drama Lewis from 2006 to 2015, saw his account temporarily locked over the weekend.

Twitter said in an email to Laurence they found the image violated their rules regarding abusive profile information and rules against posting hateful imagery.

The Reclaim Party founder complained that people can openly call the Union flag a “symbol of fascism and totalitarianism” adding: “You cannot criticise the holy flags.”

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His post sparked outrage on Twitter, with many condemning the picture just days after the suspected terrorist attack in Oslo.

German-born Professor Tanja Bueltmann, chair in international history at Strathclyde University, tweeted: “I won’t share Laurence Fox’s profile pic where he manipulated the Pride flag in such a way that a swastika can be seen.

“Under that symbol, my country of birth once murdered millions of people because of who they are. To appropriate that to fuel transphobia is utterly deplorable.

“In Germany, the use of the swastika is a criminal act punishable with up to 3 years in prison.

“So the fact that a few other well-known commentators laughed about the tweet and some politicians essentially diminished its seriousness is also deplorable.

“This appropriation of the swastika is one of the outcomes of normalising transphobia: a sick and twisted spin on trans rights that invokes fascism. It is deranged and dangerous. For Fox to choose to do this after Oslo is truly disgusting.”

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Volunteer-led charity Campaign Against Antisemitism called the controversial activist out for using the swastika to make a political point.

"Displaying pride flags in the shape of a swastika is not the edgy statement that you think it is," they wrote on Twitter.

"It is possible to express a view without the hate, and without insulting those murdered by the Nazis, which included Jews and LGBT people."

Martin Daubney, deputy leader of the Reclaim Party, replied to Laurence's tweet where he shared his warning from twitter with an image of the Union Jack flag reconstructed to create a swastika symbol.

"So is this worthy of a ban?" Martin asked Laurence, who quote-tweeted the reply and added: "Waiting for the wokies to have a meltdown about this."