Conservative Christian rapper Bryson Gray’s Twitter account was permanently banned from the social media platform, and he believes the action stemmed from him pointing out that Elton John is gay.
Twitter has not provided a specific reason for suspending Gray’s account, but the platform quickly reversed the suspension.
Telling Blaze Media that being prohibited for that statement “would be weird for obvious reasons,” Gray admitted he was not sure why the hammer fell on his popular account. But Tuesday morning, the performer reappeared in the virtual town square and thanked his supporters for their outcry.
I’m back. Thank you to everyone that put pressure on Elon to restore my account. The support is greatly appreciated. Also, to my haters and people that justified me getting banned, GOOD LUCK. You can’t cancel God’s children. Now I don’t have to drop that twitter diss track 🙃
— CCG BRYSON (@RealBrysonGray) December 13, 2022
The conservative rapper shared his thoughts on the banning on Instagram, and many of his 250,000 followers expressed their disgust at his being de-platformed.
The rapper, while he was suspended, countered the widespread belief that Elon Musk had been good for online free speech. Gray said Musk “censors speech more than the old Twitter,” but this gets overlooked because he “allowed a few people back on.”
Gray has been at the center of controversy before, with his songs being dropped by Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. In one instance the reason given was alleged “medical misinformation.”
He noted that Musk still allowed “shadow-banning” for users whose posts are considered “hate speech.” The new CEO also allowed “deboosting” and “demonetizing” of objectionable material, effectively removing them from public view unless they are individually searched for.
Musk defended the practices as “freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach.” Tweets deemed hateful or negative will not receive ad revenue, and having to search for them, he added, “is no different from the rest of the internet.”
Musk brought back many accounts that were booted previously despite having scores of followers. Noteworthy among his restorations were those of former President Donald Trump, the Babylon Bee, and controversial comedian Kathy Griffin.
And now Gray, though the reasons remain murky.
Gray believed that while de-platformed by Twitter his work would not be impeded and that his positive message would still spread. He declared on Instagram that “God got me. Trust. Watch him work.” And now he’s back.
