Kennedy, Jessica Reed Kraus, and AV24 Sue Meta for Mass Censorship on Instagram and Facebook

By Adam Garrie, The Kennedy Beacon

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; Jessica Reed Kraus, an independent journalist and social media influencer; and American Values 2024 (AV24), the Kennedy-supporting super PAC, filed a preliminary injunction that, if approved, would force Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta to cease and desist ongoing censorship of Kennedy-related content.

Evidence presented in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, demonstrates that Meta’s censorship of Kennedy has accelerated and become more intrusive and extreme since Instagram and Facebook censored links to the documentary Who Is Bobby Kennedy? across its platforms following the film’s May 3 debut. 

Meta’s censorship caught the attention of X owner Elon Musk, who promoted the film to his 191.4 million followers. Still, Meta continues to censor Kennedy-related content, including the following phrases: 

“Kennedy all the way!”

“VOTE KENNEDY”

“Time to add Kennedy to the mix”

“#letbobbydebate” 

Meta has also censored multiple links to Kennedy events, according to evidence gathered by the plaintiffs. Among them are links directing social media users to “The Real Debate,” a live broadcast hosted by respected journalist John Stossel held concurrently to CNN’s June 27 debate. Kennedy responded to the same questions asked of President Biden and former president Trump, in real time. Meta also allegedly prevented users from organizing social media “watch parties” for the event. 

Most worryingly, private communications in the form of direct messages (DMs) have been censored by Meta, leaving many Kennedy supporters fearful that Meta will follow through with threats to ban individual social media users sharing legally protected political advocacy through DMs. 

Reed Kraus, a new plaintiff with an Instagram following of 1.2 million and more than 330,000 paid subscribers to her Substack blog, House Inhabit, informed the court that she has been widely censored by Meta. As recently as June 27, she posted the results of a poll with 300,000 respondents on Instagram showing that 90% agree that Kennedy should be allowed to debate. Within minutes her Instagram account was blocked, and she was warned that further posts would lead to account restriction or termination.

Such threats of censorship not only have a chilling effect on free speech in America’s digital public square but represent blatant election interference, according to the plaintiffs. They further argue that censorship not only affects individuals and organizations directly, but also injures voters who are thereby deprived of their rights to information about the most important election in decades.