In a move we only wish was a joke, Elon Musk has reinstated the Twitter account of Andrew Anglin, owner of the Neo-nazi website The Daily Stormer.
Anglin’s Twitter account has been suspended since 2013 for reasons that bear little explanation. Now, just days after rapper Ye, also known as Kanye West, touted his love of Hitler on far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ talk show and was subsequently suspended (again) for posting a picture of a swastika inside the Star of David, Musk has revived Anglin’s account.
The move has caused rightful outrage from people on Twitter who are confused, dumbfounded, and altogether demoralized by all that’s happened in the last 24 hours.
Anglin has blatantly said he believes in ethnic cleansing and an authoritarian government. He’s called Hitler “cool,” said women “deserve to be beaten, raped and locked in cages,” and lives by the mantra WWHD (What Would Hitler Do), according to Southern Poverty Law Center. Anglin’s opinions have even rubbed other racists the wrong way, proving to be too blatant, too crude, and too provocative even for their liking.
Last month, Anglin was ordered to be arrested by a Montana judge for evading a $14 million judgment delivered to him in 2019, according to the Associated Press. The judgment was the result of an antisemitic harassment campaign he orchestrated in 2017 against a Montana family. Anglin repeatedly sent threatening messages and even shared personal information online, including images of their young son.
Unfortunately, Anglin isn’t the first white nationalist Musk has reinstated, which comes after the billionaire promised to grant “general amnesty” for all suspended accounts.
Anglin’s reinstatement marks a pivotal moment in Twitter’s history, one that reflects poorly on the company and raises numerous red flags for where the future of “free speech” is headed on the platform.
In one of his first tweets since returning to the platform, Anglin said, “I don’t want trouble.” He has also said he hopes to “normalize” the beliefs of white nationalists like himself, according to ADL. In that same statement, which reads like something out of Hitler’s mouth, Anglin said he hopes we get to a point where “you can say these things that we believe in the open, publicly, without being physically attacked, without losing your job, without getting kicked off of the internet.”
All we have to say to that is it’s your move now, Elon.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents reached an “all-time high” in 2021, and 2022 is on a similar track. This includes assault, harassment, and vandalism. For more information on the dangers of antisemitic rhetoric and what you can do to stop it, see the American Jewish Committee’s Call to Action Against Antisemitism in America.