Elon Musk swept into Twitter making big promises about bringing in a new era for free speech and room for controversial opinions. A tide of garbage quickly flowed back onto the platform, with formerly banned far-right accounts rejoicing in being once again able to spread hate to a global audience.
Kanye West was one of the biggest names to get his ban lifted. In October, he was locked out of his account for posting antisemitic material including a promise to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE”. For Musk, this was clearly just free speech in action, as he unblocked West’s account on Nov. 20.
Now, West has come out as a Nazi and Hitler fan in an interview with controversy magnet Alex Jones, followed soon after by the decision to post a string of bizarre messages, including a Star of David combined with a Nazi Swastika. This was clearly a teeny bit too much “free speech” for Musk:
Kanye West’s account is now once again inactive, and let’s face it, that’s probably for the best. The fallout from all this is likely to be huge, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Musk is re-evaluating whether allowing openly antisemitic celebrities to preach hate from a platform he’s now responsible for is a smart business decision.
As for Kanye? Well, there’s no coming back from praising Nazis, denying the Holocaust, and saying “I like Hitler.” Even his remaining diehard fans have turned against him, saying “It’s never been more over,” and wondering if they should just join the Taylor Swift army.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents reached an “all-time high” in 2021, and 2022 is on a similar track. This includes assault, harassment, and vandalism. For more information on the dangers of antisemitic rhetoric and what you can do to stop it, see the American Jewish Committee’s Call to Action Against Antisemitism in America.