Shaun King Banned from Instagram
The Removal of Shaun King is an Attack on Everybody Speaking Up for Gaza
In the hours between the 80th day of genocide in Gaza and Christmas Eve, Shaun King was banned from Instagram.
Removed from the platform, without transparency and with little due process. Just like that.
Shaun was on the digital forefront of advocating for racial justice, civil rights, and the milieu of pressing matters of domestic and, increasingly, global concern. His penchant for mobilizing everyday people amassed a following of 5.7 million people, who looked toward him as source of news in an era where corporate media outlets sank in ratings and objectivity.
Then came Gaza. While legions of racial justice activists went silent and hid for cover, King rose to the occasion and the forefront. Organizing with people on the ground in Gaza and notable voices outside of it, King dedicated his massive platform entirely to the genocide as it unfolded in real time.
The @ShaunKing Instagram page became the Gaza in-real-time page, and a go-to source for millions around the world.
In rapid order, King emerged into a leading digital voice on Gaza. Wielding instagram as his stage for citizen-driven journalism, King amplified the footage of notable Palestinians in Gaza like Motaz Azaiza and Bisan; offered timely insights as notable stories developed; lobbied politicians and media; and collaborated with central Palestinian and Arab voices in the diaspora.
King, in my view, became the most important digital voice on Gaza in North America. His genius ability to distill nuance in accessible terms resonated with audiences of all stripes. While his constant and committed coverage of Gaza thrust the naked images and unfiltered footage of genocide onto the screens, and into the faces, of followers largely unacquainted with Palestine.
They learned by fire, during this fire of genocide, and King was the conduit for their education and activation.
I know because I collaborate often with him, and see his feverish commitment to the people of Gaza on a daily basis. King echoed his commitment to fighting against the genocide after his removal from Instagram, recording a video where he demanded, “Promise me that you will now go harder for Palestine than ever before. OK?”
King took the genocide in Gaza personally. And this was duly demonstrated by the crackdown on his account, which he anticipated and addressed in many posts. The warnings and flags mounted, as the genocide became bloodier by the day and the death toll in Gaza climbed higher.
But threats of suspension did not slow King’s coverage of Gaza, nor did they stop the incisiveness of his posts.
An hour after his post was removed, I spoke to King, who shared:
“I felt it was a violation of my own principles to not tell the full truth about Gaza out of fear of getting banned.”
Fear did not silence King. Unlike so many others, including Palestinian and Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern figures - notable figures - who cowered to fear and posted nothing, King not only spoke up, but championed Gaza as his issue.
This is what sets King apart. This is what makes King more than just one activist, with one Instagram account that served as an engine for awareness and activation, but an avant guard leader on the digital platforms that can sway public narratives and popular movements.
King is a symbol. And banning a symbol has collective and collateral effects that go beyond the removal of one voice.
It serves to scare the millions that follow him, to silence those that finally dared to utter the word “Palestine,” and suppress the legions of voices fighting against a genocide online and off of it.
King’s removal stands as a cautionary tale for everybody, especially young followers, who will be too afraid to speak up on Palestine and other matters of critical concern. Particularly for notable figures in Gaza, like Motaz, currently followed by Israeli drones and stalked by snipers.
Who’s next is anybody’s guess. But Instagram is plotting its next move and removals, seeking to weaponize suspensions like King’s to scare others from speaking up. On Gaza and genocide, critique of Israeli military impunity and the unpunished demonization of Palestinians online.
Shaun King’s absence will have a massive chilling effect. But this, perhaps, is what the higher ups at Meta covet - to silence the masses and make them into unthinking datafied droves that post vain and vapid selfies, shop then charade online lives so departed from human reality.
Realities like genocide in Gaza, which King pushed millions toward action during these last 80 days. Realities that are not filtered and cropped. But real, lucid with the dark hues of the human injustices that too many turn away from. Human tragedies that call King in, and into action.
This is why we must #BringShaunBack.
This is why Instagram and its global community, needs Shaun King.
If they maintain his suspension, the platform - and its mother company Meta - will not only remain symbols of speech suppression, but emblems of Orwellian authoritarianism and digital ethnic cleansing.
Khaled A. Beydoun is an author and law professor. He publishes his daily insights on his socials at @khaledbeydoun.
This article leaves out meaningful context. King has been criticized for his performative activism over the years and the accusations have even gotten criminal with King being accused of stealing Gofundme donations for personal expenses. His most recent accusation being a similar donation fraud with Palestinians gives a different story as to why he was banned or run off the platform. Honestly, there are much better activists to uplift especially as it pertains to everything occurring in Gaza.
Shaun King’s account should be reinstated on Instagram. This man does an incredible job of informing the public on an international level as to what is going on in Gaza. We don’t have to guess we don’t have to be misled we don’t have to rely on bias television reporters, we see it in his videos in the interviews. He is a fierce advocate for human rights and for justice for the Palestinian people.