Music

Musk welcomes Kanye West back on to Twitter

Musician returns to platform after account earlier suspended and unblocked over anti-Semitic tweet

Musician Kanye West's Twitter account was temporarily locked out after posting anti-Semitic remarks. File photograph: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

Mon Nov 21 2022 - 06:50

American musician Kanye West has returned to Twitter after two weeks off the social network, and new owner Elon Musk welcomed him back on the platform.

Posting from an iPhone on Sunday, West first tested that he was still unblocked – his account had been temporarily suspended and restored at the end of October, which Musk said was not his decision – before following up with “Shalom : ).

West’s earlier suspension had been due to an anti-Semitic tweet.

The hip hop artist, now known as Ye, last month agreed to buy social media platform Parler, embraced by conservatives as an alternative to Twitter.

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Musk responded to West’s initial tweet, tweeting “Don’t kill what ye hate, Save what ye love.”

Musk spent the weekend polling his followers on the platform whether to restore the access of Donald Trump, the former US president who was permanently suspended following the January 6th breaching of the US Capitol.

Some 52 per cent responded in the affirmative, and Trump is now clear to return – although he responded by saying that he will stick to his own social network, Truth Social.

Musk’s latest tweet depicts Twitter as a drug that Trump will be sorely tempted to return to.

The billionaire Twitter owner’s courtship of the network’s controversial figures threatens to further alienate advertisers, who have been wary about associating their brands with the service in recent times.

Twitter has been setting new highs for user numbers under Musk’s leadership, which has attracted attention for abrupt job cuts, equivocation on product changes and an ultimatum to employees to either stay for a new “hard-core work culture or leave”. – Bloomberg

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