Kanye West ran afoul of Twitter’s rules when the rapper and fringe presidential candidate shared on the social media service Wednesday what he claimed to be the phone number for a Forbes editor.
Mr. West shared an image containing the phone number to his more than 30 million Twitter followers, adding: “If any of my fans want to call a white supremacist … this is the editor of Forbes.”
The post was shared, or retweeted, more than 500 times before it was ultimately removed from Twitter nearly 30 minutes later.
A spokesperson for Twitter told The Washington Times that the rapper’s tweet violated the platform rules on private information.
It was not immediately clear who removed the tweet, however, and Twitter declined to elaborate further.
Twitter users are prohibited from publishing or posting the private information of others without their express authorization and permission, according to the platform’s official policies.
“The first time you violate this policy, we will require you to remove this content,” reads part of Twitter’s rules. “We will also temporarily lock you out of your account before you can Tweet again. If you violate this policy again after your first warning, your account will be permanently suspended.”
Rick Fox, a retired basketball player close to Mr. West, wrote in a tweet of his own later Wednesday that the rapper was “kicked off” of Twitter for 12 hours.
Mr. West, one of the best-selling rap artists ever, announced in June he plans to run for the White House in November.
He has previously voiced support for the Republican incumbent, President Trump, and several GOP operatives are openly involved in trying to get the rapper on the ballot this fall.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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