Shaun King suspended, Motaz asked to remove content by Instagram
American writer and activist Shaun King, famous for pro-Palestine advocacy on social media, has been suspended from Instagram.
The news of the suspension was reported by Khalid Beydoun, another important voice on social media, speaking for the distressed in Palestine. “I felt it was a violation of my principles to not tell the truth about Gaza out of fear of getting banned,” Shaun reportedly told Beydoun.
Earlier, Motaz Azaiza, photo-journalist from Gaza with a large following, also posted that he was receiving notifications from Instagram of either deleting or editing his content with the objection that they go against the guidelines on nudity or sexual activity of Instagram. The videos showed injured children crying out in pain after being hit by Israeli strikes.
Motaz protested, “Am I shooting Nudes or what ? A lot of naked girls keep posting on Instagram which is (normal for them) and I don’t see them removing any of their content! But showing what kids of Palestine are facing in Gaza is nudity and sexual activity? Tell me if I’m right or wrong?”
Another Palestinian journalist Hind Khoudary also posted about her account being shadowbanned by Instagram. This implies that her posts are not visible or are losing engagement because they are against the narrative Meta wants to propagate.