' fill='%230E4F97'%3E%3Cg id='Group-5' transform='translate(370.000000, 11.000000)'%3E%3Cg id='avatar' transform='translate(6.000000, 4.000000)'%3E%3Ccircle id='Oval' cx='8' cy='4' r='4'%3E%3C/circle%3E%3Cpath d='M7.12864205,10 L8.87135795,10 C11.558649,10 14.0087196,11.5384024 15.1762205,13.958831 L16,15.6666667 L16,15.6666667 L15.3374858,17.5134983 C15.228016,17.8186575 14.9774027,18.051811 14.6651459,18.1389975 L8,20 L8,20 L1.33485405,18.1389975 C1.02259733,18.051811 0.771984007,17.8186575 0.662514216,17.5134983 L0,15.6666667 L0,15.6666667 L0.823779545,13.958831 C1.99128041,11.5384024 4.44135104,10 7.12864205,10 Z' id='Rectangle'%3E%3C/path%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Elon Musk appears to personally get involved in banning antisemitic Twitter user
Jisr Collective praised recent Jerusalem bombings, called Mizrahi Jews ‘traitors’; account disappears shortly after Musk commented the hateful content was ‘not ok’
Elon Musk on Thursday appeared to have personally been involved in deleting a Twitter account that posted antisemitic content and praised Palestinian terrorism against Israelis.
Twitter user Ian Miles Cheong alerted Musk to the account — called Jisr Collective — by tagging him in a post of screenshots of the account’s tweets, one of which praised twin terrorist bomb blasts in Jerusalem on Wednesday as “spectacular.”
Another post labeled Mizrahi Jews — Jews of Middle Eastern origin — as “traitors who joined white supremacist zionists,” likely referencing the 850,000 Mizrachi and Sephardi Jews who were forced to flee persecution in Arab and Muslim countries following the birth of the State of Israel.
“We all know what happens to traitors,” the user appeared to threaten.
Cheong tweeted that Jisr Collective was a “terrorist group actively promoting and celebrating violence against Jews. The account has been active since 2021. I hope more can be done to crack down on this.”
Musk replied that such posts were “not ok.” A short while after, the account no longer appeared to be active.
There is a terrorist group actively promoting and celebrating violence against Jews. The account has been active since 2021. I hope more can be done to crack down on this. pic.twitter.com/J4NIGqVYaw
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) November 23, 2022
The move seemed to be in contrast to Musk’s frequently expressed belief that Twitter had become too restrictive before his takeover.
As Musk has instituted changes on the site since his purchase — firing or encouraging hundreds of staffers to quit, including the executives responsible for ensuring that the platform is free of hate — hateful language and harassment has spiked on the site.
Online networks have seized on Musk’s ownership as an opportunity to launch a full-court press of hateful content on the site.
This caused concern among rights groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, which called for an advertising boycott, whereupon Musk tweeted that ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt was “defaming” him.
On Monday, Musk praised the Foreign Ministry’s Twitter account, saying that more countries should use the platform like Israel does.
The support came after the ministry responded with humor to Kanye West’s tweet of “Shalom” and a smile emoji upon his return to the platform following a ban for making antisemitic statements.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
