Russell Brand’s Instagram and Facebook accounts disabled by Meta after sentencing

Meta disables Russell Brand’s social media accounts following his 10-and-half-year prison sentence

Russell Brand’s social media accounts on platforms owned by Meta have been disabled following his conviction for rape and sexual assault.

The 51-year-old British actor and comedian was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison earlier this week after being found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. The offences involved four women and took place between 2004 and 2009.

Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, has disabled Brand’s accounts. He is currently in prison and is expected to serve seven years behind bars before being released on licence.

On Thursday evening, a post appeared on Brand’s X account, which remains active, addressing the removal of his Instagram account. “There was never a Russell Brand, according to @meta,” the post read.

“Thank God for @elonmusk,” the message added, referring to X’s owner, before concluding, “Stay tuned.”

The post also included what appeared to be screenshots showing that Brand’s Instagram account had been disabled.

Meta’s community standards policy states that, “in order to maintain a safe environment and empower free expression”, the company restricts or removes accounts considered “harmful to the community”. This includes accounts belonging to convicted sex offenders.

The latest action follows previous restrictions on Brand’s online activity. In 2023, YouTube suspended his channels from earning advertising revenue after a media investigation revealed allegations about his behaviour, which he denies.

The platform said the decision was made for “violating” its “creator responsibility policy” and that it was acting “to protect” users.