Kanye West
Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
Elon Musk has suspended Kanye West from Twitter after the rapper posted an image of a swastika crossed with a star of David from his account. The suspension came mere hours after West, now known as Ye, appeared on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' InfoWars show and praised Adolf Hitler the Nazis.
Musk's decision to suspend Ye comes soon after he was among a number of people allowed to return to the platform as the new Twitter owner attempted to usher in his version of free speech to the platform he purchased for $44 billion. Ye had previously been restricted for tweeting an antisemitic message.
His return proved short-lived, however, when on Thursday night he shared the antisemitic image of the swastika and star of David blended together. The tweet was deleted soon after it was posted.
In response, Musk tweeted: “I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.” Musk did not clarify whether or not the suspension would be permanent.
I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2022
The Guardian reports that Ye then started posting on Truth Social, the right wing social media platform owned by Donald Trump. It is reported that Ye shared private text messages from Musk in which the Twitter owner was critical of his behavior on the platform. “Sorry, but you have gone too far. This is not love,” Musk wrote. “Who made you the judge,” Ye replied.
The suspension followed news on Thursday that Ye will no longer be purchasing the “global free speech app” Parler. He had previously announced his intention to buy Parler in October after he was suspended from Instagram and Twitter.
