Should Kanye West be permanently banned from Instagram and Twitter?
The rap superstar, who has adopted “Ye” among his many names, is temporarily restricted from social media after posting that his fellow rap artist Diddy is being controlled by Jewish people.
The post was followed by an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.
After his suspension, West managed to rejoin Twitter and said he would go “death con 3 On Jewish people” — which led to a second restriction.
Twitter and Instagram deleted West’s posts and said the artist had violated policies on hate speech.
Last week, during the Yeezy fashion show in Paris, West wore a statement shirt that read, “White Lives Matter,” which drew flak from Diddy.
On 7 October, West shared in public screenshots of his text messages to Diddy:
“Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me. I told you this was war. Now gone get you some business,” said one of the messages.
This was not the first time West’s social media accounts were restricted.
Advocacy groups such as the American Jewish Committee, Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance, and StopAntisemitism demanded serious action from social media sites to permanently remove West’s accounts.
“Twitter and Instagram continuing to give Ye a platform is irresponsible, fuels hatred and damages the welfare of Jewish communities across the globe,” said Liora Rez, executive director of StopAntisemitism.
The Holocaust Museum in Los Angeles on 11 October invited West to visit and learn how “words can incite horrific violence and genocides” and understand how “the Holocaust started with only words that sadly begat stereotypes, racial and religious tropes and blaming others and led to the murder of six million Jews.”
Meanwhile, Twitter, under its “possibly” new owner, Elon Musk, could be the reason why West wouldn’t face a ban from the microblogging and social networking platform.
Musk — the world’s richest man according to Bloomberg and Forbes — on 8 October welcomed West after the latter’s two-year hiatus from Twitter.
Two days later, Musk tweeted, “Talked to ye today & expressed my concerns about his recent tweet, which I think he took to heart.”