Why has Bassem Youssef’s X account been removed?

Following the atrocities in October 2023, a shocked world condemned the actions of Hamas. A robust reaction from Israel was clearly deemed as appropriate, to target the terrorist regime and negate their ability to attack again. The continued bombardment across the Gaza Strip, plus other contentious retribution, dangerous comments and limited transparency, turned the tide for many people, who watched as tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians were being killed. Dissenting voices included that of Bassem Youssef, and his social media account on Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) has now been suspended.

Elon Musk’s view on free speech on X

When the world’s richest person – give or take a few moments when other multi-billionaires take over – purchased Twitter, he made a point of promoting free speech and removing bots. The latter of these promises has certainly not been met, with users complaining daily of the abundance of fake users spreading propaganda. And on the former, some are suggesting that this is dependant upon your stance and reach.

Former president, and Republican nominee for the 2024 elections, Donald Trump, had been removed from Twitter in its former ownership structure due, in part, to the dangerous misinformation he was sharing. Musk returned his account, despite Trump having set up his own platform, ironically called Truth Social. So given the apparent openness, why would Youssef have been banned?

The account @byouseff no longer exists and this appears to be due to the position taken by the comedian and actor against the accused war crimes of Israel. As well as on social media Youssef has appeared on various chat shows including that of Piers Morgan, clips of which quickly go viral.

It’s worth noting that Musk has previously warned about certain phrases not being allowed on his platform, including “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” and also “decolonisation,” as he believes them to “imply genocide.” Youssef’s last post, based on what users who saw it before the account was closed, is said to have criticised the weaponisation of the term “anti-Semitism.” He argued that it was a “fear tactic” in which to “shutdown conversations” and “intimidate people”.