New York, August 28 (RHC)-- U.S. photo and video sharing social networking service Instagram has banned the account of Columbia University’s Students for Justice in Palestine, in yet another form of censorship by the U.S.-based technology conglomerate Meta Platforms.

“As the school year is just about to begin, Columbia SJP has been permanently banned from Instagram,” the Columbia University’s student group said in a post on social media platform X on Monday.

“Our account was permanently deleted at 124k followers at the same time as our backup account, and when we made a new page it was deleted within 2 days,” it added.  The blocking of the group’s account was the latest in a battle on Columbia’s campus, and on campuses across the U.S., over free speech and Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Columbia University in New York City was the cradle of pro-Palestine demonstrations in U.S. campuses.  The protests began on April 17th and spread across other campuses in the U.S. in a student movement unlike any other this century.

The protesters have demanded an end to Washington's support of the war, which has so far killed 40,476 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 93,647 others, were met with brutal police violence.

Tel Aviv has also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the coastal strip into a humanitarian crisis.