Kanye West, 45, is officially back on Twitter. Just days after it appeared his account was unsuspended following Elon Musk‘s $44 billion takeover of the social media platform, the Chicago-born rapper made his first tweet since Nov. 4. “Testing Testing Seeing if my Twitter is unblocked,” he posted on Sunday, Nov. 20 — showing his account is back up and running to his 31.9 million followers. The post received 73.5 retweets and 24.9 replies in the four short hours since being shared.
Testing Testing Seeing if my Twitter is unblocked
— ye (@kanyewest) November 20, 2022
The Yeezy designer got himself thrown off the platform in October after making a series of anti-semitic comments on Twitter and other social media platforms, which are in violation of Twitter’s policy. However, the tides appeared to change for Ye — and other suspended public figures like Donald Trump who incited a violent insurrection — after Elon’s acquisition was complete.
The Tesla founder confirmed, however, he was not “consulted” on the move which was in the works for weeks before. “Ye’s account was restored by Twitter before the acquisition. They did not consult with or inform me,” he said on Oct. 28.
Ye’s account was restored by Twitter before the acquisition. They did not consult with or inform me.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
Elon also shared a tweet about the new “Twitter policy” after becoming the owner. “New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach. Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter,” he said. “You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet,” he explained.
New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach.
Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter.
You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
Back on October 10, Elon revealed he had talked to the rapper — who legally changed his name to Ye — about the offensive comments he made. “Talked to ye today & expressed my concerns about his recent tweet, which I think he took to heart,” Elon shared at the time.
The latest moves by Twitter haven’t been without controversy, with many speaking out against both Ye and Trump being permitted back on the social media app. On Nov. 19, Elon posted a poll to Twitter asking followers if they believe he should reinstate Trump — with the results being 51% yes. “The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” he then said alongside the results.