Kanye West accounts frozen over alleged racism

Kanye West’s Twitter and Instagram accounts were restricted over the weekend, with the social media platforms saying they removed the rapper’s posts after online users condemned them as anti-Semitic.

He was first locked out of his Instagram account by Facebook parent Meta Platforms on Friday after which he took to Twitter, where he tweeted on Saturday for the first time in two years.

West’s first post on Twitter since 2020 was a blurry photo of the rapper and Meta Platforms founder Mark Zuckerberg singing karaoke.

The tweet said: “Look at this Mark How you gone kick me off instagram.”

West then tweeted: “You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”

That post, in which he said he was not anti-Semitic, has been removed by Twitter due to a violation of its policies.

His account was also locked, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed on Sunday.

The step by Twitter to lock the rapper’s account was noteworthy because American billionaire and Tesla boss Elon Musk, who has said he would buy Twitter and calls himself a free speech absolutist, had welcomed West’s return to the platform and replied to a post by the rapper tweeting: “Welcome back to Twitter, my friend!”

West, who has been open about his struggles with bipolar disorder, has also previously made erratic online posts.

Earlier this year, he was suspended from Instagram for 24 hours after he directed racial slurs at comedian Trevor Noah.

The Instagram ban in March came amid his acrimonious divorce from reality TV star Kim Kardashian.

Before he took to Twitter early on Saturday, West, who has legally changed his name to Ye, had his Instagram account suspended after a since-removed post in which he invoked anti-Semitic tropes, accusing a musician of being controlled by “the Jewish people”.

The company on Saturday said temporary restrictions on posting, commenting and messaging were imposed on West’s Instagram account.

The American Jewish Committee hit out at West for having “fomented hatred of Jews”.

“Kanye West should figure out how to make a point without using anti-Semitism,” the organisation said.

Last week, German sportswear giant Adidas said it was reconsidering its partnership with West after he reportedly became disgruntled with how the brand was marketing his products.

In September, West and retail brand Gap also announced an end to a partnership.