Twitter Says 2018 Tweet in Which Farrakhan Compared Jews to Termites Violates New Rules

Algemeiner Staff

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Photo: Reuters / Rebecca Cook.

Twitter on Tuesday said it was requiring Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to take down a 2018 tweet in which he compared Jews to termites.

The move came as Twitter announced it was expanding its rules against hateful conduct “to include language that dehumanizes others on the basis of religion.”

“If reported, tweets that break this rule sent before today will need to be deleted, but will not directly result in any account suspensions because they were tweeted before the rule was set,” a Twitter statement said.

Farrakhan — who has a long history of antisemitic rhetoric — will not be able to publish new tweets until the offending 2018 one is removed.

“I’m not an anti-Semite. I’m anti-termite,” Farrakhan said in the tweet in question.