Kanye West's Twitter Ban Raises Questions on Combatting Anti-Semitism
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Kanye West has again been suspended from Twitter, this time for tweeting an image that combined the Star of David with a Nazi swastika. This comes after West appeared on Alex Jones’ show, InfoWars, where he expressed his admiration for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler while stating “the Holocaust is not what happened.” West’s statements and his suspension from Twitter are again raising questions of how to properly handle hate-speech and bigotry in the digital age.
Key Quotes: Some writers are questioning the effectiveness of deplatforming on account of beliefs. Brad Polumbo wrote that "we can't make antisemitism, hate, and conspiracies disappear by ignoring them or attempting to silence their proponents. But we can defeat them by ridiculing and debunking them in the public square." Alan Dershowitz (Lean Right Bias) analyzed the issue from a legal perspective, determining that "although I find West's juxtaposition of the Star of David and the Swastika beneath contempt, I do not believe it should have been censored by Twitter."
A writer in The Atlantic tied West's statements to a rise in anti-Semitism, determining that "a civilized society minimizes such ideas not just because they are displeasing but because they get people killed." Darvio Morrow (Not Rated) reflected on the historic relationship of black and Jewish Americans, stating, "2022 has not been a great year for Black and Jewish relations in America," adding, "we have to remember that there are more things that unite us than divide us."
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