The Death of Charlie Kirk Led to a New Age of Bosses Policing Social Media

Now, months after the Sept. 10 assassination of conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, there has been something of a paradigm shift among employers who dare to snoop on their employees’ social media activities and discipline or fire them, according to a Washington Post story by corporate culture reporter Taylor Telford.

As Telford said:

Employment experts say workers are increasingly being disciplined for posts on social or political issues that companies may view as a source of reputational risk, as companies tighten policies and step up monitoring of online activity.

An HR expert called Jim Link explained to Telford that the response by right-wing groups angry at Charlie Kirk’s nasty posts had given way to aggressive policing by bosses, and a free speech activist called Adam Goldstein of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression claimed that once upon a time, “there was less risk of your employee saying something completely unrelated to work becoming a problem for the company.”

“There is now more tension around fear of public reaction,” Goldstein told the newspaper.

In the wake of the horrific and horrific gun murder of Kirk — who was a divisive figure, but also a human being who was beaten in front of his family, thanks to social media and the world — his political allies didn’t care about the fact that they wanted to scalp those who celebrated or posted harsh words online.

“When you see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder, call them,” Vice president J.D. Vance said on September 15. “And, god damn it, call their employer.”

Charlie Kirk’s death will not be in vain.

I’m going to spend my night making famous every person I find online celebrating their death, so prepare to have your future career aspirations completely ruined if you’re sick enough to celebrate their death.

I will make you want…

-Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 10, 2025

In the following weeks, people started losing their jobs. According to a story at the time, also from The Washington Post, Office Depot, Nasdaq, the U.S. Secret Service, and at least 27 other employers had “imposed sanctions or fired employees in response to their statements about Kirk’s killing.”

Reuters noted last month in a story that more than 600 people lost their jobs over posts about Kirk:

“Some were fired after celebrating or mocking Kirk’s death. At least 15 people were punished for allegedly invoking ‘karma’ or ‘divine justice’, and at least nine others were disciplined over variations of the phrase ‘good riddance.’

According to the Center for American Progress, between Trump’s inauguration and September, the month of Kirk’s assassination, the unemployment rate rose 0.4 percentage points to 4.4%, the highest level since September 2021, when a wave of pandemic-era layoffs eased. The Federal Reserve says unemployment is likely to remain at high levels in 2026.