Kanye West, now known as Ye, has been welcomed back to the social media giant formerly known as Twitter, despite his previous suspension for violating the platform’s rules against inciting violence. However, the company has imposed new restrictions – West’s account will not be monetized, and no advertisements will be displayed alongside his posts, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
West’s account was initially suspended in December following a series of antisemitic comments, including a threat to “Go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” These controversial statements resulted in the rapid dissolution of several business partnerships, including those with Adidas and the high-end fashion brand Balenciaga.
While the exact tweet that led to West’s suspension remains unclear, CNN reported that West had posted a modified image of the Star of David with a swastika inside it just a day before his account was suspended.
The social media platform, now under the leadership of CEO Elon Musk, has been grappling with issues related to content moderation. Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” had earlier stated that the platform would be hesitant to delete posts and would exercise caution when issuing permanent bans.
However, following West’s suspension, Musk expressed his disappointment, tweeting, “I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence.”
As part of their moderation strategy, the team aims to “proactively prevent ads from appearing adjacent to content” deemed as violating their rules. According to a recent update, such labeled tweets receive 81% fewer impressions than unrestricted ones, and over 99.99% of tweet impressions are from content that complies with their guidelines.
Twitter’s Violent Speech Policy forbids the incitement and glorification of violence, harmful wishes towards others, and threats. However, it does allow for exceptions in cases of figures of speech, satire, or artistic expression, provided the context is expressing a viewpoint rather than promoting actionable violence or harm.
The policy emphasizes understanding the context of the conversation before taking action and allows users to appeal if they believe their account was wrongfully suspended.
It remains unclear whether West appealed his suspension or if other factors led to the reactivation of his account. The musician has not yet posted anything since his return. Both Twitter and a representative for West have been contacted by CNN for comments but have yet to respond.”
