Harvard University has blocked Instagram users from having the ability to comment on its posts, as well as from being able to tag the Ivy League school’s account in their own posts on the social media platform. The university, mired in an antisemitism scandal and allegations of plagiarism against President Claudine Gay, seems to think all of its problems will go away if no one can involve them in the conversation.
Harvard University has taken the unusual step of locking down multiple accounts on Mark Zuckerberg’s Instagram, preventing users from commenting on its posts or even tagging the Ivy League school in their own posts. This lockdown prevents Breitbart News from tagging the school when posting our extensive reporting on the university and its troubles. The desperate damage control step has been undertaken in a vain attempt to quiet the online discussion about one of America’s most famous institutions of higher learning.
Harvard is dealing with a major antisemitism scandal, as the school’s president, Claudine Gay, is being called out for her failure to address the matter, as well as her failure to condemn calls for the genocide of Jews on campus during a recent congressional hearing.
Mark Zuckerberg discusses Instagram (AFP/Getty)
Supporters of Palestine gather at Harvard University to show their support for Palestinians in Gaza at a rally in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 14, 2023.(JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
As Breitbart News reported, Harvard has been embattled in a nationwide scandal ever since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack against Israel, which sparked unabashed displays of antisemitism on campus, including a pro-terror joint statement signed by more than 30 student groups at Harvard.
“We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” the students said, in part.
After first remaining silent on the matter, Harvard leadership issued a vague, generic statement in the wake of backlash, and failed to pushback against or even mention its student groups in question.
After continuing backlash, President Gay issued a follow-up statement attempting to distance the school from the student group who signed the pro-terror joint statement.
After that, Harvard, which has been named 2023’s worst school for free speech by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), ironically issued a third statement stressing the school’s “commitment to free expression” — despite having such a bad record on free speech when it comes to other situations that are not pro-terror.
Displays of antisemitism on campus in the wake of Hamas’ mass murder of Jews in Israel were not an isolated incident only transpiring at Harvard. As Breitbart News reported, the terrorist attack against Israel galvanized students across the U.S. into putting on pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel demonstrations on their campuses.
After that, Gay, along with the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) faced intense backlash after they declined to say during a congressional hearing whether advocating for the genocide of Jews is permissible on campus.
University of Pennsylvania President ended up resigning less than a week after the congressional hearing. Meanwhile, calls for Gay to resign are mounting.
Additionally, Gay’s own Ph.D. dissertation is now being called into question by conservative activist and CRT expert Christopher Rufo and journalist Christopher Brunet, who are citing concerns of plagiarism.
On Tuesday, scholar Carol Swain, whose work was cited in the Harvard president’s dissertation, told Breitbart News Daily host Mike Slater that Gay “is a fraud” and “an embarrassment,” and that “she should resign.”
Swain added that “if she were a white male, or even a white female, caught in the scandal that she’s caught in — they would be going by now.”
As Breitbart News reported, the Harvard president is going to keep her position — for now — despite being embattled in multiple scandals, as the Ivy League school recently stated, “We unanimously stand in support” of Gay, despite the major debacle.
Meanwhile, Harvard has made sure to block social media users from commenting on their Instagram account and tagging them.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and X/Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.