Bassem Youssef, an Egyptian-American comedian and political commentator, deactivated his X account (formerly Twitter), on Tuesday 20 August. The 50-year-old disabled his account shortly after he posted about the “weaponization of anti-Semitism” on the platform, criticizing that the term has been “overused and abused in order to intimidate people” and shut down discussions about Israel’s war on Palestinian. In a social media post on Facebook after his account was deactivated, Youssef said that he would consider returning to X when “safety issues” concerning his “loved ones are alleviated”. Youssef did not explain what these safety issues are and confirmed that he would continue posting on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Shortly after his account’s deactivation, Israel’s official X account posted a screenshot showing Youssef’s account failing to load with the caption “Bye”. Youssef responded on Instagram criticizing the post. “How fragile can you be when the official account of your country acts like a little b****,” said Youssef in a story on Instagram. Bassem Youssef’s final posts On X, prior to the deactivation of his account, Youssef posted a a poll asking followers if they were still “scared to be called…
Bassem Youssef Deactivates X Account as Controversy Rises Over Free Speech and Israel’s War on Gaza
August 21, 2024
By Belal Nawar
Senior Journalist
