Musk's X social media platform reinstates Kanye West's account

[July 31, 2023]  (Reuters) - Social media platform X reinstated account of Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, on Saturday, after it was suspended nearly eight months ago because the rapper had violated the platform's rules prohibiting incitement to violence.

Ye's account now shows his last post from Dec. 1, a day prior to when his account was suspended on platform X, the new name owner Elon Musk has given Twitter.

Ye won't be eligible to monetize his account on X, and advertisements won't appear next to his posts, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing the social media platform.

Ye's account was suspended in December, just two months after it was reinstated, after one of his posts had earlier appeared to show a swastika symbol inside a Star of David.

X reinstated Ye's account after receiving reassurance that he wouldn't use the platform to share antisemitic or otherwise harmful language, the report said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Ye has not posted anything new since coming back on the platform.

The social media platform did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Rapper Kanye West makes a point as he holds his first rally in support of his presidential bid in North Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. July 19, 2020. REUTERS/Randall Hill

The billionaire owner of X, who calls himself a free speech absolutist, had welcomed the return of the rapper to the platform in October, after his account was reinstated for the first time.

Musk had previously reinstated former U.S. President Donald Trump's account after conducting a poll in which some 14.8 million Twitter users had voted with 51.8% voting in favor of the reinstatement. But Trump had said that he had no interest in returning to Twitter and would stick with his new platform Truth Social.

After Ye went on a string of antisemitic rants in interviews and on social media he lost his partnership with Adidas and Gap for Yeezy products.

(Reporting by Baranjot Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Alistair Bell)

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