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Lanon Wee

Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins Allowed to Return to X

Tommy Robinson, a person who is strongly opposed to Islam, has had his account reactivated on X, which was formerly known as Twitter. Robinson, whose legal name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was brought back along with political commentator Katie Hopkins. Hopkins in 2020 and Robinson in 2018 were issued bans and suspensions by Twitter for violating its policies on offensive behaviour. Since Elon Musk purchased the platform last year, a considerable number of contentious characters have been permitted to return. In November 2022, Mr Musk, a vocal advocate of free speech, declared a "general amnesty" for those accounts that had been suspended but had not taken part in any illegal activities or committed any egregious spamming. BBC Monitoring's research uncovered that, when reviewing 1,100 reactivated accounts, approximately 190 of them were encouraging hatred and violence. X has also enabled the return of Andrew Tate, a much debated influencer and avowed misogynist, who has been blocked on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Nick Lowles, the head of anti-hate campaigners Hope Not Hate, has spoken out against X's most recent action. He noted that the reinstatement of Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins indicated Elon Musk had decided to permit the sharing of hateful content and inaccurate information on his X/Twitter platform. The group announced that they would be sending a letter to X to emphasize the risks associated with their material. The ex-host of LBC and columnist for MailOnline, Hopkins, has triggered a great deal of criticism due to her contentious perspectives - for example, likening migrants to cockroaches, and asserting that a pic of a perished three-year-old Syrian refugee was put up. Back in 2017, she provoked outrage when she tweeted, suggesting that there ought to be a "definitive solution" to tackling terrorism in the wake of the Manchester terror attack. Later, she altered the phrase "final solution" to "true solution", referring to the prior version as a "mis-type". Ms Hopkin had amassed a Twitter following of more than a million before her permanent suspension in 2020 due to a violation of the platform's hateful conduct policy. The specific tweet responsible for the action was not specified. I am grateful." After she was rehired, she shared this on X: "Heartfelt appreciation goes out to @elonmusk and all the folks of the Twitterverse who made Tommy's and my return to @X possible. Gratitude all around!" Be aware: you have plenty of support. We are numerous, and our combined strength is far greater. We are now standing up in defense of your right to liberty. Robinson was the founding member of the English Defence League, which gained notoriety for its demonstrations against what it deemed "radical Islam", before he left the position in 2013. Robinson was mandated in July 2021 to remunerate £100,000 in libel compensation to a Syrian child who had been documented being assaulted in a schoolyard. Robinson posted two videos to Facebook wherein she made numerous incorrect claims concerning the boy. In November 2013, Robinson admitted his guilt concerning fraud, leading to a sentence of 18 months in jail. He has been found guilty of stalking, assault, employing the passport of another person, exhibiting threatening conduct and disregarding the orders of a court. The BBC has asked X for a statement.

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