Kanye West has had his Twitter account reactivated, following a ban of almost eight months for offensive content.
The US artist – more recently known as Ye – had his account suspended in December 2022, when he was accused of violating the platform’s rules which prohibit incitement to violence.
Ye had posted a series of tweets, including one appearing to show a swastika and the Star of David.
His account, which has 31.5million followers, will be ineligible for monetization and no ads will appear next to his posts, according to New York Times tech reporter Ryan Mac. He also explains the “gold tick” next to Ye’s name – one of site owner Elon Musk’s innovations for official business accounts (which can usually run ads and enjoy increased distribution).
Ye was previously suspended from Instagram for a 24-hour period in March 2022 for using a racial slur in reference to comedian Trevor Noah. Then, in October, he was locked out of both Twitter and Instagram, after posting anti-Semitic material. At that time, his clothing brand partner Adidas cut ties with the controversial musician, saying the company “did not tolerate anti-Semitism and any other sort of hate speech.”
Anti-Semitism groups have begun to voice their distress at the rapper’s reinstatement, with the Stop Antisemitism organization tweeting today, “We are disgusted to see antisemite Kanye West unbanned by Twitter. What was once a platform for debate and discussion has simply become a cesspool for bigots to spew their hatred.”
Ye is yet to post on the site, which has been rebranded to ‘X’ during his absence. Another high-profile returner is Donald Trump, reinstated last November after Musk conducted a public poll which revealed a 51.8% result in favour of Trump’s return. Like Ye, he has to post anything since his return.
