I was just given a lifetime ban from Instagram for thanking Yemen for trying to stop the genocide of Palestinians.
An official statement from Shaun King + the original thank you note to the men of Yemen
Moments ago, I learned that I will be banned by Instagram/Meta for life over an open letter “To the Men of Yemen” that I made on December 22nd, 2023 - thanking them for their courage doing anything and everything they know to do to stop the horrific genocide of the Palestinian people at the hands of Israel, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
I have been told that my Instagram account of nearly 6 million followers, and all of its data, have been permanently deleted, and could not be restored under any circumstance. Even Donald Trump, who was repeatedly suspended, banned, and charged with nearly 100 felonies, has been restored. I’ve committed no crimes, have never been suspended, and yet I am now banned for life.
LET ME BE CLEAR: I stand by every single word I said then and do not, and will never regret saying what I said in defense of Gaza and in support of Yemen. In fact, I only wish I said and did even more to support Yemen in their efforts on the Red Sea.
In a moment, I need to explain to you what Meta did both to me - and to the Meta Oversight Board - to completely remove and undercut their power. It’s shocking and sets a dangerous new precedent. If you didn’t know it, the Meta Oversight Board is a fully independent oversight board based in London, England, where I am right now. They are completely separate from Meta, the corporation, and have the power to overturn Meta’s worst decisions. Meta HATES this Oversight Board and just destroyed all of their power in one single decision.
Let me give some context and facts:
Since October 7th the Houthis of Yemen have not killed one single person on the Red Sea. It does not even appear that they’ve caused even one injury. It has only been the US and the UK that have killed people on the Red Sea - first killing 12 Yemeni men on their boats and later dropping bombs and slaughtering more people all over Yemen.
As of this moment, the white supremacist colonizers of Israel, the US, and the UK, in just the past week, have bombed Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, and Yemen.
35,000 Palestinians, with most of them being innocent women, children, and elders, have now been slaughtered - and the entire world knows it’s a disgusting and evil genocide. It’s actually an abomination that more countries have not had the courage of Yemen.
If it is even possible to be ethical and moral in a war or genocide it is the brave men of Yemen, who go out of their way not to injure a soul, who demonstrate this. It damn sure isn’t Israel.
Now that my case is closed, please allow me, for the first time, to publicly detail the Zionist actions of Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, an Israeli citizen who spent much of his childhood in Israel and whose family still lives there now, and the Zionist law firm they hired as outside counsel against me in this case. It’s breathtaking.
On Christmas Eve, when my account was suspended for my open letter to Yemen, I was shocked. Yemen and the Houthis had been moved off of the American government’s terror list 3 years ago - ironically at the request and order of Joe Biden. I had been told by Meta that I could not post about Hamas in any capacity because they were on the government terror list. The Houthis weren’t.
Meta then told me that they have THEIR OWN private terror list and that the Houthis were on it. They would not say who made the list. They would not show me the list.
In the 40+ days since I was banned millions of posts endorsing the actions of Yemen have been made and shared without accounts being banned for it.
My attorneys, who had experience with cases before the independent Meta Oversight Board, said we only had 15 days to file our appeal. But Meta’s attorneys refused to hold any meetings with them.
Finally, on Day 15, a meeting was scheduled. It was there that we learned that Meta hired outside counsel in their case against me.
In this instance, the law firm was Orrick, a Zionist law firm which has publicly stated “We Stand with the State of Israel, runs their own “Israeli Resource Center,” and is staffed with open Zionists.
When my attorneys and I game planned for this meeting, we believed 10 scenarios were possible - with the absolute worst scenario being them saying “Meta has decided to uphold the suspension of Shaun King’s account, but he is now free to appeal to the Meta Oversight Board.”
Instead, they did something far more nefarious.
They stated, “We have closed and deleted Mr. King’s account. And since you actually have to have an account to file an appeal with the Meta Oversight Board, Mr. King is unable to file an appeal. This decision is final and permanent.”
That was the beginning, middle, and end of the meeting. They didn’t take questions. And ended the meeting.
My attorneys were both shocked and appalled.
Donald Trump himself, was allowed back on Meta and now actively uses their platforms to spread lies and ugliness. But my account is deleted and I’m permanently banned?
In essence, Meta the corporation found the one loophole that made them completely unaccountable to the Meta Oversight Board - if they simply delete an account, the Oversight Board loses all power to rule on that account.
And that’s exactly what the Meta Oversight Board ruled today. They told my attorneys that they are prohibited from even accepting my case, which they would otherwise take, because they Meta deleted my account before they could accept the appeal.
This is a VERY DANGEROUS precedent. And frankly, less than we wanted my individual account restored, we were afraid that if Meta could do this to me, which they have now done, they could do this to anyone.
And clearly, they aren’t applying any of this logic to Israel, or the IDF, as they literally post videos of themselves committing genocide and war crimes and the horrific videos go viral day after day, as if they are a harmless joke.
Effectively, I’ve been given a lifetime ban from Instagram. And any possible pathway for an appeal has been removed.
While this decision is unjust, I don’t regret or take back a single word of support I offered Palestine or Yemen. Now, my fight doesn’t end, it simply changes.
Love you all!
Shaun
PS: Here is the very simple and humane post from this past December 22nd that I made that got me banned for life.
To the Men of Yemen,
I say this at great risk.
This company (Meta) has just deleted and purged any reference I’ve made to your courage and bravery in standing up for Palestinians.
➡️ PLEASE LISTEN TO ME:
This is all the confirmation in the world that what you are doing IS ACTUALLY WORKING.
The powerful governments and corporations of the world wouldn’t try so hard to erase your actions from public view if they weren’t actually making a huge difference.
But the masses of people of the world see you and are so grateful that you’ve put your lives on the line to hold Israel and the United States accountable for their genocidal war crimes against Palestinians.
Please allow me to remind Meta that the United States Government REMOVED the Houthis of Yemen from the terrorist watch list in 2021 - so this excuse cannot be used for Meta’s rationale to prohibit us from celebrating your actions.
In fact, by stopping commerce heading toward Israel in the Red Sea, you’ve taken one of the single most peaceful options to stop this genocide available to you.
I reject the notion that YOU are the dangerous party in this genocide when you have openly and repeatedly stated that once this genocide ends, you will free the waters back up for easy travels.
Framing those trying to END the murder of over 25,000 Palestinians as the “dangerous” ones is what we call gaslighting. And the world sees through it. The lies of Israel and America are now more obvious for the world to see than ever before.
Furthermore, I reject the notion that YOU are the dangerous party in this endeavor when it has been the United States ALONE that has blocked a binding ceasefire agreement on the UN Security Council.
The actual danger could’ve ended weeks or even months ago had the United States not blocked the will of the ENTIRE WORLD to have an immediate and lasting ceasefire.
Had the United States not blocked the will of the world, the brothers of Yemen wouldn’t even need to stop the ships in the Red Sea right now.
We know you are being squeezed to stop your actions, but I beg you to please continue doing all you can to stop the genocide of Palestinians.
Sincerely…
Your Friend and Brother,
Shaun King
So dangerous. Is anyone using or working on building a social media platform that has absolutely nothing to do with Meta?
Meta has lost its collective mind.