COLUMBUS, Ohio—State Rep. Nino Vitale’s campaign Facebook account has been down since Friday morning, according to the Champaign County Republican.

Vitale, one of the Ohio House’s most conservative members, said Friday he wasn’t sure exactly what happened with his account and wasn’t given any explanation by Facebook. “They’re so far being helpful and looking into it,” Vitale said of the world’s largest social-media platform.

Vitale’s personal Facebook page was up as of Friday evening.

Earlier this month, Vitale posted on his campaign Facebook account a conspiracy theory that billionaire Bill Gates "wants to lock us down and profit by charging us for mandatory vaccinations.” The post also claims, falsely, that Gates "chose not to vaccinate his own kids.”

Asked whether he believed his account was suspended for something he posted, Vitale said he would have no idea.

“I mean, there's some people who posted some pretty awful stuff that I think are much more racist and stuff than I have,” he said. “I don't go in for that stuff at all.”

An email to Facebook seeking an explanation for why Vitale’s account was taken down was not immediately returned Friday afternoon.

Vitale, the chair of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has been critical of Gov. Mike DeWine’s coronavirus lockdown measures in recent weeks, attending a protest rally at the Ohio Statehouse last week.

“Is the role of government to protect us from death, which is inevitable? Or is the role of government to radically protect our freedom and our liberty?” Vitale said during the protest in a video posted by the group Ohio Gun Owners. “For me, I stand for your freedom and your liberty."

The lawmaker has also been one of several members of Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s Economic Recovery Task Force to urge a quick end to the DeWine administration’s restrictions.

“I don’t think you’re really doing any harm in reopening your business," Vitale said during one task force meeting to Summit Motor Sports owner Bill Bader, who said he was opening his track for the summer. "We don’t need any more central-government planning and restrictions. We need to get Ohio open again.”

UPDATE: A Facebook spokesman said Saturday Vitale’s page was temporarily blocked because of suspicious outside activity, not because of anything the lawmaker posted.

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