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Kanye West’s Twitter, Instagram locked over offensive posts

Published:Monday | October 10, 2022 | 10:49 AM
Kanye West arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on February 9, 2020, in Beverly Hills, California. West’s Twitter and Instagram accounts have been locked because of posts by the rapper, now known legally as Ye, that were widely deemed antisemitic, according to reports, Sunday, October 9, 2022. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Kanye West's Twitter and Instagram accounts have been locked because of antisemitic posts from the rapper, now known legally as Ye.

Spokespersons for Twitter and Instagram parent company Meta said Sunday that Ye posted messages that violated their policies.

In a tweet sent late Saturday, Ye said he would soon go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” according to Internet archive records, making an apparent reference to the US military readiness condition scale known as DEFCON.

“You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda,” he said in the same tweet, which was removed by Twitter.

The comment drew a sharp rebuke from the Anti-Defamation League, which called the tweet “deeply troubling, dangerous, and antisemitic, period.”

“There is no excuse for his propagating of white supremacist slogans and classic antisemitism about Jewish power, especially with the platform he has,” a statement said.

Representatives for Ye did not return requests for comment.

Earlier this month, Ye had been criticised for wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt to his collection at Paris Fashion Week.

Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs posted a video on Instagram saying he didn't support the shirt and urged people not to buy it.

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