Katie Hopkins, the former Mail Online columnist, has joined far-right Canadian website the Rebel Media, where Tommy Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League, is also a contributor.

Hopkins will write a regular column through a new website called Hopkins World and will also contribute video commentaries and investigative reports.

She parted ways with Mail Online, the sister website of the Daily Mail, last year after the website did not renew her contract.

Hopkins rose to fame by appearing in the third series of the Apprentice and wrote for the Mail Online for two years after leaving the Sun. But her columns and tweets have led to her being accused of publishing deliberate provocation rather than legitimate commentary.

One of her most controversial pieces involved comparing African migrants crossing the Mediterranean to “cockroaches” and calling for gunboats to stop migrants reaching their destination.

The day after it emerged that Hopkins had left Mail Online the website apologised and said it had agreed to pay “substantial damages” to a teacher whom the columnist had falsely accused of taking her class to a Donald Trump protest in Westminster.

Hopkins said the aim of Hopkins World is to “tell the stories not being told”.

She said in her first column: “When so many platforms are under the control of the Saudis, tied to fickle commercial advertisers or beholden to special interests and religious lobbyists, it is a real thrill to find a place for us to speak without censorship.

“If you hear yourself saying: ‘I’m not supposed to say this, but …’ then I am here to reassure you that you are. Your views matter. You matter.

“With this platform provided by Rebel Media, and the kind support of my sponsors, subscribers, and adversaries, we will be heard.”

Rebel Media was founded by Ezra Levant, a Canadian broadcaster and political activist.

Robinson presents the Tommy Robinson Show on the Rebel Media. In December, articles promoting the show included the headlines “Tommy Robinson: Attack of the Muslim Social Justice Warriors” and “Tommy Robinson Show: Investigating the UK Muslim charity staging a ‘halal’ Christmas pantomime”.

The lead story on the Rebel Media’s website on Wednesday evening was “New California textbooks turn historical figures gay, trans.”