American rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, seems to be on a suspension streak for the past few weeks for consistently airing his anti-semitic sentiments on both social media platforms and media interviews.
On Friday, Dec. 2, Chief Twit Elon Musk pulled a rather unexpected move, given his free speech stance on the platform by suspending the rapper's account after he posted a picture of a swastika and the Star of David together, just weeks after having his account restored.
Musk Suspends Ye
Ye retweeted a clip from one of his interview where he said that he loves Jewish people but also love Nazis. He posted the swastika image in a separate tweet. This ultimately prompted Musk to suspend him from the bird app.
"I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended," the Chief Twit wrote in a tweet on Friday.
It is worth noting that Musk has reversed most of Twitter's efforts in preventing accounts from spreading disinformation and hate speech by suspending them if they were deemed to have committed violations against the app's guidelines.
He reinstated former US President Donald Trump after facing a permanent ban for supposedly violating Twitter's guidelines against incitement to violence during the Capital Riots. He also welcomed Ye back after being suspended for his anti-semitic tweets.
The rapper has since lost deals with major businesses such as Adidas and Gap for his controversial behavior.
Additionally, Musk has announced a general amnesty for every account that has been banned from the platform for violating its guidelines, except for those with criminal cases in court.
Musk's decision on Monday, Nov. 28, may just be a welcome move for those who have criticized his free-speech absolutist stance, including celebrities who quit the app citing fears that it will become proliferate bigotry and hate speech.
But the billionaire ultimately decided that he has to draw the line of free speech away from tweets that may incite violence, such as the case with Ye. Yet, at the same time, this move also drew the ire of some Twitter users questioning whether Musk is truly for free speech.
Read also : Twitter to Show 'View Counts' Every Tweet, Says Musk-As Important as Replies, Likes, and Retweets?
Ye Trolls Musk
Ye tweeted a photo of Musk, who was shirtless on a yacht, getting hosed down by media executive Ari Emanuel, who has previously urged companies to terminate connections with the rapper due to his anti-semitic remarks.
The musician said he wanted everyone to remember that this was his final tweet before getting suspended.
The post cannot be viewed as writing due to his suspension. Musk said in another tweet: "Just clarifying that his account is being suspended for incitement to violence, not an unflattering pic of me being hosed by Ari. Frankly, I found those pics to be helpful motivation to lose weight!"