THE Twitter account of North Antrim DUP MP Ian Paisley has been deactivated.
It happened after he retweeted a post which linked paedophile Jimmy Savile to the EU Remain campaign.
Mr Paisley caused a furious social media backlash when he retweeted the post by the Brexit-supporting Stop the EU Twitter account.
The post linked to an article headlined: "Ouija Board confirms Savile would have voted Remain." Above the post, Mr Paisley wrote last Thursday: "Explains BBC coverage."
The tweet caused uproar among other Twitter users. Some called for the North Antrim MP's resignation.
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long tweeted: "It is truly shocking. Not to mention disrespectful to victims of abuse and those who voted to remain. I can't conceive of how anyone thinks this is okay."
Thought it was parody. It isn't. It's an actual tweet from an MP. Linking remain voters to a serial paedophile & necrophiliac.
— Naomi Long MLA (@naomi_long) October 12, 2018
Utterly obscene & offensive.
Please @duponline @DUPleader take action. This isn't okay.
No barrel's bottom left unscraped in production of his tweet. pic.twitter.com/TSqGzuO0gH
South Belfast SDLP MLA Claire Hanna wrote of Mr Paisley: "He makes Donald Trump look classy & his being in a position of power is very disturbing."
Appears that at least for now Twitter has taken action & removed Ian Paisley’s account. Pity DUP wouldnt be so decisive despite his behaviour reaching a new low of joking about a child abuser. He makes Donald Trump look classy & his being in a position of power is very disturbing
— Claire Hanna (@ClaireHanna) October 14, 2018
Mr Paisley's account - which has more than 17,000 followers - was later deactivated.
The row follows his 30-day suspension from the House of Commons after he failed to declare two family holidays to Sri Lanka paid for by the country's government, on whose behalf he lobbied at Westminster.
The scandal prompted the opening of a recall petition in North Antrim that if signed by 10 percent of constituents would have triggered a by-election, in which Mr Paisley vowed to stand again. The petition attracted 7,099 signatures, 444 short of the number required to force the by-election. Mr Paisley said he was "greatly humbled" by the result, which he described as a "miracle" and evidence that people "accepted" his apology.
He added at the time: "I can't help the reasons why I am in the news....I could be a shrinking violet...I am not prepared to do that."
The latest incident is the second time the MP's Twitter account has been deactivated this year. It was closed for a period in July.
Read more:DUP's Ian Paisley withdraws from Twitter
It is also not the first time Mr Paisley has come under fire for comments relating to former BBC presenter Savile, who died in 2011.
In 2012 Mr Paisley spoke in the House of Commons following claims that a married BBC presenter was photographed kissing another woman on a night out and questioned whether the "culture of the BBC has changed".
The DUP and Twitter were contacted for comment yesterday.
Twitter replied only that: "We don't comment on individual accounts for personal and security reasons."
