Instagram Should Tell Us Why It Banned Shaun King | Bobby Burack

Instagram deactivated the account of Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King on Monday.

“The account was disabled due to multiple instances of praise for designated entities in violation of our policies,” a Meta spokesperson told The New York Post on Monday.

King says Meta punished him for condemning his criticism of Israel.

“Frustrated that Instagram has banned me for fighting for Palestine, and speaking up for the human rights and dignity of Palestinians, but I refuse to betray my values and principles by staying silent about this genocide and the war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank," King posted on X.

King is one of the most shameful public figures we have ever covered at OutKick. He's grotesque.

He has enriched himself by exploiting pawns and telling them they are victims of racial injustice. It is widely believed he lies about his skin color and is actually a white man trying to benefit from diversity.

We will let you decide:

But that doesn't mean King shouldn't be able to spread his opinions on social media.

The answer to hate speech is more speech. I always say that, no matter my opinion of the person in question.

People with truly destructive thoughts will eventually expose themselves if you let them speak. So let them speak.

For example, Harvard continues to lose donors and early acceptees on account of its tolerance for antisemitism.

Society is better off knowing what beliefs lie within the most prestigious university in the United States.

Therefore, social media platforms should also allow bigots like King to inform those who do not know that he is a bigot that he is one. Because he most certainly is. And some people might not yet know.

In actuality, social media is doing a favor to those with hateful thoughts by letting them disguise their hatred and lurk beneath the surface.

That said, there should be one exception to the argument against banning bigots: if the bigot uses social media to encourage violence and/or lie about major news stories.

And given his history, King could fall into either category.

Let's review:

In October, King claimed he helped rescue two Americans from Hamas captivity. However, the family of those Americans denied any association with King and claimed he lied about freeing them.

We believe the family.

Last year, King threatened reporters on social media, suggesting he would post their addresses online.

In 2019, he falsely identified a white man named Robert Cantrell as the killer of a 7-year-old black girl in Houston. King posted a photo of Cantrell online, putting the man and his family in danger.

Cantrell committed suicide several months later, per the Free Beacon.

In 2021, King falsely accused former Philadelphia district attorney candidate Carlos Vega of framing a black man for murder, effectively running Vega's political career.

So, we put nothing past King.

And that's why it's disappointing Meta didn't provide specifics. What policies did King violate? We don't know.

If Shaun King used Instagram to endanger another person over lies about Israel-Hamas, he was rightfully banned.

But the same cannot be said if he was removed for expressing support for Palestine, as misguided as that stance is.