Elon Musk suspends Kanye West’s Twitter for breaking the rules

On Friday, Twitter CEO Elon Musk confirmed that Kanye West was suspended from the social media platform. The action followed after the rapper tweeted an image of a swastika combined with the Star of David. Twitter immediately removed his post.

Two weeks ago, Elon Musk welcomed Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to his social media platform. This is following the rapper’s months of hiatus. The social media platform kicked him off before due to his antisemitic posts. Along with Kanye West, Twitter also restored Donald Trump’s account. 

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!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2022

Late Thursday night, alongside his surprising announcement about Chris Paul, West did another misbehavior. His tweet with the swastika forced Twitter to kick him off the platform. While Twitter removed this post immediately, it came with a message saying that the tweet violated Twitter’s rules. Along with it is a link to its rules page with explanations of enforcement actions. 

After West’s account suspension, Elon Musk discussed the issue, saying that Kanye West violated Twitter’s rule again. What he has done is against provocation to violence, and his account would be under suspension. Even with Musk’s vow for free speech, the rapper crossed the line. And it is the most high-profile account that has undergone suspension since Musk acquired Twitter.

Kanye was banned from Twitter for posting the Star of David ✡️ symbol with a Swastika inside.

This tweet was Removed by Twitter.

Then Ye Tweeted screenshots of a text convo between him & Elon Musk complaining it was removed.

In that screenshot the ✡️ Swastika was seen again.

— KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) December 2, 2022

Musk tweeted about the suspension, “I tried my best,” Musk said. “Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.” Recently, West had been all over the news, and nobody was surprised at all.

It started with his antisemitic posts and wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt a few months ago. His recent remark in an interview with Alex Jones fueled the internet again. He denied the Holocaust and said, “I like Hitler.” 

Kanye West and Parler

In addition, the account suspension happened after a possible deal between Kanye West and Parler was off. Parler confirmed to NPR that it didn’t push thru with selling the site and decided to call off the deal.

According to a Parlement Technologies spokesperson, “This decision was in the interest of both parties in mid-November. Parler will continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and the evolution of the platform for our vibrant community.”

Kanye West’s Twitter account has been suspended after posting photo of a swastika merged with a Star of David. pic.twitter.com/m1dQWPtVyj

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) December 2, 2022

They planned to finalize this deal by the end of the year. According to a source, Parler was desperate to sell in order to save the company. Now, it’s unclear if Kanye’s recent misbehaviors are factors as to why the acquisition didn’t push thru. Recent backouts from West’s sponsors like Adidas and Gap show that he is getting isolated in the business world. 

Following the 2020 US presidential election, former President Trump’s fans found a new rallying platform in Parler. As critics of big tech and libertarian supporters sought an alternative social media platform, Parler saw a substantial increase in users.

However, it was not until the chaos ensued at the Capitol on January 6th that Parler truly made headlines. Hundreds of rioters shared photos and videos of their acts through the platform prompting two major tech giants, Apple and Amazon, to cut ties with the site together.