Elon Musk reinstates Katie Hopkins and Tommy Robinson to X – formerly Twitter – citing ‘free speech’
Elon Musk has reinstated two more hard-line right-wing commentators to X, formerly known as Twitter.
The billionaire businessman restored Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins‘ accounts on Sunday (5 November) after another user alerted him to the fact that both were still permanently banned.
In response, Elon Musk said: “Free speech is allowed, provided laws are not broken.” Just hours later, both of their accounts had been restored to X.
In a post, Hopkins thanked Musk and “the Twitter family” for reinstating both her and Robinson, adding: “We are many. And we are stronger together.”
Meanwhile, Robinson announced his return by sharing a clip of David Hasselhoff in the 1989 song “Looking for Freedom” with his own face superimposed over the Baywatch star’s.
Later, he posted: “I am grateful to Elon Musk for giving me my voice back at such an important time.”
Both commentators were originally banned from the platform for breaches of Twitter’s “hateful conduct” policy.
*X/Twitter plummeting in value following Elon Musk acquisition*
Hopkins, who rose to fame in the third series of The Apprentice before going on to write a column for The Sun and MailOnline, was banned in 2020 for her views on immigration and Islam.
Robinson – the former leader of the far-right English Defence League, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – was banned in 2018 for breaching Twitter’s policies on inciting hateful conduct. At the time, he claimed the ban was due to a post that read: “Islam promotes killing people.”
Responding to a post celebrating Hopkins’ return to the platform, Musk took the chance to insult the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), which he has previously threatened to sue over its report that X is failing to uphold hateful conduct policy standards.
After a user claimed that the “pro-censorship group” lobbied for Hopkins’ removal, Musk responded: “CCDH is an evil propaganda machine.”
Internal documents seen by The Verge last month seem to reveal that the company’s value had plummeted to $19 billion (£15.45 billion). Musk acquired it for $44 billion (£35.79 billion) in October 2022.