Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr revealed Facebooked-owned Instagram had banned him from creating new campaign accounts for 180 days.
RFK Jr slammed the Mark Zuckerberg-owned platform in a scathing tweet:
“To silence a major political candidate is profoundly undemocratic. Social media is the modern equivalent of the town square. How can democracy function if only some candidates have access to it?”
In response, Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk replied: “Would you like to do a Spaces discussion with me next week?”
Chet Long, Founder and Senior Partner of Web360 Global, announced he would host the upcoming Twitter Spaces event, calling it a “Presidential Town Hall,” this coming Monday at 2 PM.
Chet Long, Founder and Senior Partner of Web360 Global, announced he would host the upcoming Twitter Spaces event, calling it a “Presidential Town Hall,” this coming Monday at 2 PM.
While RFK Jr does have his own personal Instagram account with 11.9 thousand followers, he is blocked from using his campaign email to setting up new accounts.
Instagram’s automated reply states: “Your account, or activity on it, doesn’t follow Community Guidelines on account integrity and authentic identity.”
In 2021, Kennedy was banned from Instagram for “repeatedly posting misinformation about vaccine safety and COVID-19.”
A spokesperson for Facebook said, “We removed this account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines.”
Last month, RFK Jr sided with Musk on his remarks about the platform having “no actual choice” but to comply with government censorship requests.
Kennedy responded to Musk’s comments that Twitter was forced into fulfilling government censorship requests.
“[Musk] says Twitter has ‘no actual choice’ about government censorship requests,” RFK Jr tweeted Tuesday. “He is pretty much correct.”
“Private companies can resist, but governments can shut down platforms like Twitter or fine them into oblivion,” Kennedy continued. “Enough!”
“I’m going to put a stop to that, at least in the U.S.,” he vowed.
RFK Jr also noted the “United States is supposed to be a champion of freedom in the world.”
READ: Rand Paul Says Elon Musk Will Go Down in History as “Champion for Free Speech”
