Facebook and Twitter banned support for Kyle Rittenhouse across their platforms shortly after the Kenosha riots. After a jury in Wisconsin found Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges brought against him, those same platforms refuse to say if support for the teenager is still banned.
Rittenhouse was found not guilty on five charges including first-degree reckless homicide, two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment. The presiding judge, Bruce Schroeder, also dismissed two additional weapons charges.
KENOSHA, WISCONSIN – NOVEMBER 16: Kyle Rittenhouse pulls numbers of jurors out of a tumbler during his trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse on November 16, 2021 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Photo by Sean Krajacic-Pool/Getty Images)
As Breitbart News recently reported, Big Tech companies continued to censor statements of support for Rittenhouse, even as the prosecution’s case fell apart:
Over a year old, the ban is still in place on both Facebook and Instagram and is even catching GOP Senate candidates like Josh Mandel in its net.
Facebook says supporting Rittenhouse violates its guidelines on “violence or dangerous organizations.”
Users on Twitter also report that the platform is still suspending them for supporting Rittenhouse.
You can make up complete lies about Kyle Rittenhouse and you won’t get banned.
But if you say Kyle Rittenhouse was innocent, you will be. pic.twitter.com/kIyyTcujSA
— Libertarian Party NH (@LPNH) November 8, 2021
@tos i just got suspended for 12 hours for this tweet. lmao you’re a fucking joke twitter #freekyle #kyleisinnocent pic.twitter.com/mKdcKFE259
— 🍌PsychoJosh🍓(comms OPEN) (@FruitBowlPsycho) November 3, 2021
Breitbart News reached to both Facebook and Twitter to inquire if their bans on support for Rittenhouse are still active in light of the verdict, and asking if the platforms’ rules make a distinction between support for violence and support for legal self-defense. Thus far, neither company has responded.
GoFundMe, the fundraising platform that banned fundraisers in support of Rittenhouse shortly after the Kenosha riot, did make a statement, saying that fundraisers in support of Rittenhouse would be allowed in light of the teenager’s acquittal, and said they only banned fundraisers after charges for violent crime were brought against him.
As conservatives on Twitter quickly pointed out, GoFundMe is perfectly comfortable hosting fundraisers for other individuals charged with violence and other crimes — so long as they are supporters of Black Lives Matter.
Your garbage website is actively soliciting legal defense cash for violent BLM activists facing charges for felony rioting, assaulting cops, and—I kid you not—“bank robbery during [a] George Floyd riot,” not to mention the countless rioter bail funds you’re currently hosting. https://t.co/MOCp6WjItK pic.twitter.com/v3gpKxaHew
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) November 19, 2021
GoFundMe switched off replies to its tweet, and its CEO locked his account shortly after the verdict. GiveSendGo, a Christian-owned platform that allowed pro-Rittenhouse fundraisers throughout the trial, slammed its competitor for rushing to judgement.
This is why we let the facts come out and not just shut down on side of the narrative. GiveSendGo is not pro-left or pro-right, instead we are pro everyone getting the chance to have their voices heard! pic.twitter.com/7jsVjvOnBV
— GiveSendGo (@GiveSendGo) November 19, 2021
Neither Facebook, Twitter, nor GoFundMe made any comprehensive effort to stop people using their platforms to support the violent, race-fueled riots that swept American cities in the summer of 2020, that left dozens dead, caused over $1 billion in property damage, and led to the assaults on Rittenhouse that caused him to fire in self-defense. In Twitter’s case, the platform was even used to identify looting targets.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.
