Anti-Israel protest group Columbia University Apartheid Divest's Instagram account was disabled, the group announced on Monday, amid increased scrutiny of belligerent activism at the university and new policies implemented in cooperation with the US federal government.
CUAD shared on Telegram a screenshot of a message from Instagram explaining that the group no longer had access to the account because it didn't follow community guidelines and the information would be deleted. The notification cautioned that there would be no review of the decision. As of writing, the Instagram account is still inaccessible.
"Meta has censored and disabled our Instagram for the second time because we dared to speak up for Palestine," CUAD said on Telegram. "This is part of a long and concerted imperial effort to censor and erase the Palestinian people."
CUAD said on X Monday that Meta's decision was part of a collusion between corporations and governments to censor pro-Palestinian activity, including that of Within Our Lifetime and Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine. According to JTA, WOL's Instagram account was disabled last February. The Jerusalem Post previously reported that Columbia SJP was banned from Instagram in August, at the beginning of the school year.
The case of Mahmoud Khalil
The CUAD Instagram account went into a temporary lull of activity following the arrest and green card revocation of one of its leaders, Mahmoud Khalil, on March 8.
Khalil's arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement is still being litigated, with Reuters reporting on Tuesday that US District Judge Michael Farbiarz ruled that the activist's case could be heard in New Jersey rather in Louisiana where he is currently being held in a detainment facility. Reuters noted that the local district was more politically split when compared to the conservative Louisiana court.
The disabling of the CUAD social media account comes not long after Columbia's March 21 adoption of conditions for resumption of federal grants and contracts as set out in a March 13 Education Department letter to the administration. This included development and commitment to enforcing disciplinary actions against anti-Israel encampment protesters.
Columbia reiterated some of the campus changes in a Tuesday statement, explaining that it would be reducing reliance on the NYPD by fielding its own special Patrol Officers with the authority to issue citations and make arrests. The public safety team has "enhanced training and legal authority that will enable us to respond more effectively and promptly to campus disruptions."
The university also clarified that its new identification requirements that anyone on campus must present an ID when asked by officers, and it was no longer permitted to wear a mask to conceal one's identity while violating laws or university policies.
On Friday, Columbia announced that interim president Katrina Armstrong was stepping down from the position amid a controversy about a Wall Street Journal report on a meeting between Armstrong and faculty in which she downplayed regulation change commitments to the federal government. Board of Trustees co-chair Claire Shipman became the acting president effective immediately.
The Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism responded in a Friday Education Department statement, saying that "The action taken by Columbia’s trustees today, especially in light of this week’s concerning revelation, is an important step toward advancing negotiations as set forth in the pre-conditional understanding reached last Friday."
Congressional Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg wished Shipman success but warned that the committee would be watching closely.
“Now is not the time for Columbia University to regress as it works to combat the rampant antisemitism plaguing the school. So far Columbia has largely failed to uphold its commitment to Jewish students and faculty – leaving them to face harassment, intimidation, and even assault. Thankfully, the Trump administration is ushering in an era of common sense, and this Committee is working diligently alongside it to continue the momentum we’ve created in addressing antisemitism," Walberg said in a Friday statement. "But the school and its administrators must put in the work to combat this evil."
