After year, Twitter finally removes Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic ‘termite’ tweet

Louis Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic tweet was removed following Twitter’s expansion of its rules against hateful online conduct.

By World Israel News Staff

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan’s 2018 anti-Semitic tweet comparing Jews to termites has been removed following a year of complaints that led Twitter to expand its rules against hate speech.

“To the members of the Jewish community that don’t like me, thank you very much for putting my name all over the planet … I’m not mad at you, ’cause you’re so stupid,” Farrakhan tweeted in October.

“So when they talk about Farrakhan, call me a hater, you know they do, call me an anti-Semite — stop it! I’m anti-termite! I’m not an anti-Semite. I’m anti-termite.”

The tweet linked to a YouTube video of a speech Farrakhan gave marking the 23rd anniversary of the Million Man March in 1995. YouTube has since deleted the video for violating its policy on hate speech. However, it is still available on the Nation of Islam website.

On Tuesday, Twitter announced its new policy change in a blog titled “Updating our rules against hateful conduct.” The new rule prohibits “language that dehumanizes others on the basis of religion.”

The blog explained that its first upgraded regulation concerns hate towards religious groups following comments from over 8,000 Twitter users located in more than 30 countries.

The Farrakhan post is widely considered the catalyst for the policy change. The tweet led to a year-long call for Twitter to either remove the offensive post or Farrakhan’s account entirely.

Farrakhan has not been suspended from Twitter, as the new rule allows the removal of a user for hateful posts only from the time the new regulation went into effect. However, objectionable posts from before the new rule need to be deleted.

Both Facebook and Instagram banned Farrakhan last week, labeling him “dangerous” for his anti-Semitic rants.