Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, has just discovered that even Elon Musk’s version of Twitter has limits on “free speech.” Musk confirmed on Friday that Ye has been suspended from the platform—again. The suspension of Ye’s Twitter account comes after the rapper tweeted a photo of a swastika inside the Star of David, reports The New York Times.
The incident caps off yet another chaotic week at Twitter. It was a week highlighted by Musk freaking out that Apple was allegedly ceasing to advertise on the platform and, Musk said, was getting ready to pull the Twitter app from the iPhone’s App Store. Musk backtracked on the claims, which he called a “misunderstanding,” just a day later, after he was summoned to Apple’s headquarters to meet with CEO Tim Cook.
Ye was first suspended from Twitter in early October—under Twitter’s previous ownership—and reinstated by the month’s end. Musk has previously said that the decision on Ye’s reinstatement was made before he took ownership of the company. Regardless, he has now demonstrated that even a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” has his limits.
Despite capping off another chaotic week at Twitter, Musk’s actions to again suspend Ye will bring a sigh of relief to many and may be interpreted as a sign that Musk knows he can’t let Twitter descend into a place where absolutely anything can be said.
Announcing Ye’s suspension, Musk tweeted, “I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.”
As for Ye, his suspension comes just after news broke that he and Parler have called off their deal for Ye to acquire that social media app. In a statement given to CNBC, Parler suggests the termination of the deal was agreed in mid-November, well before Ye’s suspension of Twitter today. “The company has mutually agreed with Ye to terminate the intent of sale of Parler,” the statement read.
It’s unknown if Ye’s latest suspension is permanent or if Musk will reinstate him at some date in the future.
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