Kanye West once argued that slavery was a choice. He called the COVID-19 vaccine “the mark of the beast”. Earlier this month, he was criticized for wearing a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt to her collection at Paris Fashion Week.
Now, the rapper legally known as Ye is once again embroiled in controversy – locked out of Twitter and Instagram for Jewish posts that social networks allege Sunday violate their policies. In a Twitter post, Ye said he would soon execute “the 3rd death of the people of JEWISH”, according to internet records, clearly demonstrating the scale of his defense readiness condition. The United States is called DEFCON.
“You guys have toyed with me and tried to polish anyone who opposes your agenda,” he said in the same tweet posted late Saturday, which has since been deleted by Twitter.
The comment drew harsh criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, which called the tweet a “troublesome, dangerous and deeply antisocial period”.
“There is no reason for him to propagate the slogans of white supremacy and classical anti-Semitism about Jewish power, especially given the background he has,” one said. the statement said.
Representatives for Ye did not return a request for comment.
Ye has alienated even die-hard fans in recent years, teasing and tinkering with albums that haven’t achieved the commercial or critical success of his previous recordings. . Those close to him, like his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her family, have stopped publicly defending him after The couple’s bitter divorce and his disturbing posts about her recent relationship with comedian Pete Davidson.
But social media lockdowns have capped a reeling week for Ye, even by his standards. On October 3, he wore a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt while launching his latest fashion line in Paris, prompting fierce criticism. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, White Lives Matter is a German neo-Nazi group.
Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs posted a video on Instagram said he did not support the shirt and urged people not to buy it. On Instagram, Ye posted a screenshot of a text conversation with Diddy and suggested that he was controlled by Jews, according to media reports.
Adidas said on Thursday it has booked lucrative sneakers contract with Ye is under review. And on Saturday, Instagram locked the rapper-businessman’s posts for content violations. His Twitter account was locked on Sunday, just a day after he returned to the platform after a nearly two-year hiatus – and was welcomed back by Elon Musk.
“Welcome back to Twitter, my friend,” posted Musk, who last week extended his $44 billion takeover offer of Twitter after a months-long legal battle with the company. The billionaire and Tesla CEO said he would turn Twitter into a haven for free speech and ease restrictions, although it’s impossible to know exactly how influential he would run the network if he took over.
The social media policies for Twitter and Instagram prohibit posting offensive language.
Ye’s Twitter account is still active but he can’t post until the lockout is over. Sanctions by Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, could include temporary restrictions on posting, commenting, or sending direct messages. Such muzzles can last as little as 12 hours or as many days, depending on the severity of the violation or how many times the account has violated the rules.
While one step below full account suspension, enough of these restrictions could eventually result in a person being kicked out of a social media platform – temporarily or in rare cases permanently. .
As of Monday afternoon, none of the accounts had posted anything, suggesting Ye remains restricted. Neither Twitter nor Meta said how long they would restrict Ye’s account, nor how much he could be suspended or even permanently restarted.
Years of controversy
Ye has been less of a hit with his music and has sparked more controversy since 2016 when he was hospitalized in Los Angeles for what his team called stress and burnout. It was later revealed that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
That year, he finished a gig in Sacramento, California, after just four songs but not 10 minutes before about Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Hillary Clinton, Mark Zuckerberg, radio, and MTV. West quickly decided to scrap the entire tour.
Since then, he has regularly appeared on headlines: Run for presidentcontinued his feud with Taylor Swift, causing an uproar when he argued that slavery was a choice, openly defended R Kelly, and once invited Marilyn Manson and DaBaby on stage with him when they face sexual assault and anti-gay charges.
Aside from Ye’s involvement, social media restrictions like this one have largely become customary for platforms. Twitter took action on nearly 4.3 million accounts between July and December 2021, according to the latest data available from a transparency report it publishes twice a year. About 1.3 million accounts were suspended during the same period.
