Kanye West suspended from Instagram for 24 hours on policy violation

March 18, 2022 - 9:00 AM
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Rapper Kanye West speaks during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss criminal justice reform in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 11, 2018. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Kanye West has been suspended from social media network Instagram for 24 hours after the rapper infringed the platform’s policy regarding harassment, a spokesperson for its parent firm Meta Platforms Inc FB.O said.

The platform deleted content sent from the 44-year-old rapper’s account that was in violation of its policies on “hate speech and bullying and harassment,” the spokesperson, Joe Osborne, told Reuters in an emailed statement.

West, who legally goes by ‘Ye’, will be restricted from posting, commenting or sending direct messages from the account for 24 hours, Osborne said, adding further action could be taken if he continued to violate policies on regaining control of the account.

Representatives for West did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

A report in entertainment industry publication Variety said West directed racial slurs at Trevor Noah, host of “The Daily Show” in an Instagram post after Noah discussed a row between West, West’s former wife Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend, “Saturday Night Live” comic Pete Davidson.

The post has since been deleted, the report said.

Meta declined to provide details of the posts that violated its policy.

However, posts of West criticizing actor D.L. Hughley and SNL writer Dave Sirius can still be seen on his profile.

Kardashian, a businesswoman and star of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” filed for divorce a year ago, citing irreconcilable differences with West. The couple have four children ranging in age from 2 to 8.

After the divorce, West criticized the reality star’s new relationship with Davidson on social media and publicly appealed to her to return to him.

A Los Angeles judge granted this month Kardashian’s request to be declared legally single following nearly eight years of marriage to the rapper.

—Reporting by Akriti Sharma and Jahnavi Nidumolu in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Karishma Singh