Kanye West's Twitter and Instagram accounts were locked over the weekend following the hip-hop superstar posting messages that have been deemed antisemitic by many. However, the watchdog group StopAntisemitism feels temporary restrictions on West's accounts don't go far enough and is calling for the star to be permanently banned from the social media platforms.
"Twitter and Instagram (Meta) continuing to give Ye a platform is irresponsible, fuels hatred and damages the welfare of Jewish communities across the globe," Liora Rez, executive director of StopAntisemitism, said in a statement. "StopAntisemitism calls on Ye to publicly apologize for his comments, and for Meta and Twitter to permanently suspend him from their platforms."
The controversy around West's social media activity began last week after he appeared at a Paris fashion show wearing a shirt that read "White Lives Matter." During the fallout, he shared a screenshot on Instagram of what was reported to be a text message exchange with Sean "Diddy" Combs. In the back-and-forth, West wrote that he would "show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me."
West later wrote on Twitter about "going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE" and said he can't be antisemitic "because [B]lack people are actually Jew."
Rez told Newsweek on Tuesday that StopAntisemitism is concerned not only about West's tweets but also about Elon Musk's recent interactions with West.
After first welcoming West back to Twitter with a tweet on Saturday, Musk later indicatedhe took issue with some of the star's recent messages. Musk, the potential future owner of Twitter, commented under one of West's posts: "Talked to ye today & expressed my concerns about his recent tweet, which I think he took to heart."
Talked to ye today & expressed my concerns about his recent tweet, which I think he took to heart
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 11, 2022
"Threats of violence and hate speech must not be tolerated by Elon Musk or whomever is in charge next at Twitter," Rez said to Newsweek. "Musk's recent tweet that he's expressed his concern to Ye is simply not enough. And while we commend Twitter and Meta for locking Kanye's accounts, with the extent of his influence his accounts need to be permanently removed."
In its pitch to have West permanently suspended, StopAntisemitism wrote that West's "death con" reference is reason number one for his removal.
StopAntisemitism wrote, "'Death con' is in reference to the U.S.' military's defense readiness condition (DEFCON) which uses 5 levels of readiness for the U.S. militaryagainst potential threats—5 being of least concern to 1 being nuclear war. Defcon 3 is 'increase in force readiness above normal readiness'—a clear threat of violence (per Twitter's rules)."
The organization said its second reason for calling for a ban was Ye tweeting on October 8 that "You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda."
StopAntisemitism said, "An age-old antisemitic stereotype is that of the 'Jewish agenda'—the idea that Jews are secretly plotting to take over the world and everyone's financial assets. This is hateful conduct (per Twitter's rules)."
The watchdog group also mentioned Ye's texts to Diddy, noting the messages also used "an antisemitic trope and hate speech" that is against Meta's community guidelines.
Finally, StopAntisemitism wrote how West allegedly told Diddy that "I told you this was war."
"This is a call to action to harm people (per Meta's community guidelines)," StopAntisemitism said.
The group acknowledged that West has discussed having mental health issues in the past, but it said that his "recent comments about Jews are problematic and dangerous and they have real-world consequences. In fact, excusing this behavior is an insult to those suffering from mental illness."
Newsweek reached out to West for comment.