Musk says he will reinstate Nick Fuentes X’s account

Elon Musk said Thursday that he will reinstate the account of far-right streamer Nick Fuentes, known for espousing white supremacy and anti-Semitic views, on his X social media platform.

“Very well, he will be reinstated as long as he does not violate the law, and let him be overwhelmed by the comments and notes from the community,” Musk said in a post, responding to a comment asking him to allow Fuentes back on the platform.

“It’s better to have something open to be refuted than to grow up simmering in darkness,” added the billionaire.

Musk briefly reinstated Fuentes’ account in January 2023 after acquiring the platform then known as Twitter in late 2022. Twitter suspended the 25-year-old’s account less than 24 hours after he was allowed back on the platform.

During his brief return to Twitter last year, Fuentes posted a video announcing the presidential campaign of Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. Ye and Fuentes attended a dinner with former President Trump at Mar-a-Lago in December 2022, sparking reactions against the now presumptive Republican presidential candidate.

Musk, who has previously described himself as a “free speech absolutist,” sought to return several controversial figures to the platform following its acquisition, including Trump and Ye. However, Ye’s account was suspended once again following several anti-Semitic posts.

“I can’t claim to be a supporter of free speech, but then permanently ban someone who hasn’t broken the law, no matter how much I disagree with what they say,” Musk said in another post on Thursday.

“This will probably lose us a lot of advertisers and make me sad, but principle is principle,” he continued.

Since taking over the platform in 2022, Musk has struggled to retain advertisers. Several major advertisers reduced advertising spending last fall after reports emerged that the platform now known as X was placing ads from mainstream brands alongside pro-Nazi and white nationalist content.