Shaun King has been banned from Instagram over pro-Palestine views just days after HRW found Meta complicity in systematic censorship.
US activist Shaun King has been banned on Instagram, where he has nearly six million followers, over his pro-Palestine content.
King said he had been warned numerous times about the content he was posting, largely in support of the Palestinian people and in defiance of the indiscriminate bombing by Israel.
He was unwavering in his stance and told his followers that he would likely be banned, but was unwilling to soften his position.
The suspension of his account sparked a huge backlash online, with many calling for it to be reinstated.
The Game made a lengthy post on IG and said that he had been threatened with suspension too for expressing pre-Palestine and anti-war views.
“A million things | could say about this but we all know what it really is on these social apps. @shaunking’s page has been suspended & I’ve been given just as many warnings on my page/posts as well so one can only assume he’s next in line,” he in an Instagram post.
“And while we over in our country are having happy holidays… We know there are a lot of people who are not. I truly pray for this world’s healing above all else. WE NEED IT.”
Ebro Darden, a radio host, echoed a similar sentiment: “Not winning the PR war eh? Scared of the truth being shared? Well, this will not quiet anything… your pages and platforms are not yours. Another reminder.”
Many other pro-Palestine voices shared their concern about online censorship by Meta just days after Human Rights Watch released a report which found that there was ‘systemic censorship’ of Palestinian content on Meta platforms.
The report found that Meta’s policies had been “silencing voices” in support of Palestinians on Instagram and Facebook in a “wave of heightened censorship” amid Israel’s war on Gaza.
The human rights-focused advocacy group documented more than 1,050 takedowns and suppression of content posted by Palestinians and supporters on Meta platforms between October and November, including 1,049 posts involving peaceful content in support of Palestinians and one in support of Israel.
“Human Rights Watch found that the censorship of content related to Palestine on Instagram and Facebook is systemic and global,” the report said. “Meta’s inconsistent enforcement of its own policies led to the erroneous removal of content about Palestine.”
“While this appears to be the biggest wave of suppression of content about Palestine to date, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has a well-documented record of over-broad crackdowns on content related to Palestine,” it added.
As of Monday morning, Israel has killed at least 20,424 Palestinians in Gaza while injuring 54,036 others, Palestinian health officials confirmed.
