Meta permanently disabled journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin’s 1M-follower Instagram account following his arrest and acquittal in Kuwait.
Key Takeaways
Ahmed Shihab-Eldin’s Instagram was temporarily suspended by @accessnow while he was detained in Kuwait, then permanently disabled by Meta.
He regained login access via a backup code only to receive a permanent disable prompt, suggesting Meta acted on a government request independent of the suspension.
He was acquitted, meaning Meta’s action followed a resolved legal case in Kuwait, not an active criminal finding.
Ryan Grim (journalist) publicly characterized the move as Meta “bowing down to Kuwait.”
Hacker News Comment Review
Commenters see this as a pattern: corporations comply with state requests when operating in those jurisdictions, regardless of legal outcomes like acquittal.
Discussion noted that powerful private actors (Musk, Bezos) likely use indirect or plausible-deniability channels rather than formal requests, making corporate capitulation harder to trace.
Notable Comments
@bombcar: “If you’re Elon or Bezos you know how to make the request in a plausible deniability way.”