Kanye West, the renowned US rapper, also known as Ye, has had his Twitter account reinstated after almost eight months of suspension due to violating the platform’s rules against incitement to violence. The news of his return to the social media platform comes after Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk, controversially rebranded the platform as “X.”
Ye’s account is now active again, but he has refrained from making any new posts since his reinstatement. The last post on his account dates back to 1 December 2022, a day before it was initially suspended.
The suspension was a result of Kanye West’s history of posting offensive content on Twitter. Musk took action in December 2022, stating that Ye had violated the platform’s rules against inciting violence. At the time, the rapper had shared a series of tweets, including one that depicted a symbol combining a swastika and the Star of David, which sparked outrage and led to his account suspension.
This wasn’t the first time Kanye faced consequences for his social media behavior. Two months before his December suspension, both Twitter and Instagram locked him out of his accounts after he posted anti-Semitic messages. In response to his offensive posts, the clothing giant Adidas severed ties with the rapper, taking a strong stance against anti-Semitism and hate speech.
Moreover, in March of the same year, Kanye received a 24-hour suspension from Instagram after using a racial slur in reference to comedian Trevor Noah, further raising concerns about his online conduct.
Neither Elon Musk nor the X platform issued public statements regarding Kanye West’s account reinstatement on Saturday. However, it’s worth noting that Musk had previously restored former US President Donald Trump’s Twitter account in November, following a poll that indicated 51.8% of participants were in favor of the reinstatement. Interestingly, Donald Trump had expressed disinterest in returning to the platform after his account was reinstated.
Kanye West’s Twitter reinstatement marks a significant event in his online presence, and many will be closely monitoring his future activity on the platform. As social media platforms continue to address issues of content moderation and user conduct, cases like these serve as reminders that high-profile figures are not exempt from the consequences of violating platform guidelines.