Elon Musk reinstates the accounts of two right-wing extremists…just ‘cuz!

It’s another day on Elon Musk’s X/Twitter, and the controversial anti-trans billionaire has restored the accounts of two right-wing extremists in the name of free speech. Katie Hopkins and Tommy Robinson, both of whom had their accounts banned for “hateful conduct,” thanked Musk for bringing their years-long bans to an end.

On Sunday, after one of Musk’s random fanboys brought up the fact that both Hopkins and Robinson were still banned, Musk promptly reinstated their accounts. “Free speech is allowed, provided laws are not broken,” he said.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has broken laws, being convicted of crimes ranging from assault to fraud. The founder of the anti-Muslim group English Defence League, he was banned from Twitter in 2018, just a year after he was implicated in a terrorist attack.

In 2017, a white domestic terrorist drove a van into a group of pedestrians near the Finsbury Park Mosque in London, killing one and injuring nine others. Although Robinson did not play a direct role in the attack, the terrorist had exchanged emails with him and was an avid follower of his social media activity.

Metropolitan police commissioner Mark Rowley blamed Robinson’s incendiary rhetoric for radicalizing the man, according to The Guardian. “He had grown to hate Muslims largely due his consumption of large amounts of online far-right material including, as evidenced at court, statements from former EDL leader Tommy Robinson, Britain First and others,” Rowley explained.

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Hopkins, a former reporter for The Daily Mail and The Sun, was banned in 2020. In a 2015 column, she called migrants “cockroaches” and “feral humans” who were “spreading like the norovirus,” and she advocated for the use of gunships to stop their boats. Her remarks, which she continued to defend, were condemned by the UN as incitement to genocide.

Good thing Musk knows better than the UN. With their accounts now reinstated, both Hopkins and Robinson pledged to make good use of their platform.

In his first post since his ban, Robinson wrote, “I’ve been censored, attacked, slandered and imprisoned for shining a light on uncomfortable truths that our government wish to hide, the public are now aware I was telling the truth. We have lots to do.”

“Thank you @elonmusk,” Hopkins wrote. “And thank you to all the Twitter family who have brought Tommy & I back to @X.

“Know this. You are not alone. We are many. And we are stronger together. The fight back for your freedom is on.”