Twitter suspended the account of Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, again on Friday. The rapper had posted an image of swastika merged with a Star of David. Owner Elon Musk writes on the social media platform that Ye “has again violated our rules on incitement to violence.”
A self-proclaimed champion of freedom of expression, Musk had just welcomed the rapper back to the platform in November, after Ye also served a suspension on both Twitter and Instagram for anti-Semitic and racist statements. “I did my best,” Musk said on Friday.
In the hours before his suspension, Ye, who said in 2018 that he has bipolar disorder, emphatically sought out the controversy. He was interviewed on the far-right platform Infowars by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Hidden behind a black mask, he used (again) anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and praised Adolf Hitler. Moments later, he posted an unflattering photo of Musk in his swimsuit.
“This is fine,” Musk responded at the time. His position on content moderation is that in cases of doubt, freedom of expression should prevail. Under his rule, Donald Trump was allowed to return to Twitter and the fake news policy about corona was scrapped. However, Ye’s swastika post was also a bridge too far for Musk. “This is not good,” he responded to the now-deleted image.
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