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- Elon Musk said his decision to ban a Hamas-linked account on X "was a tough call."
- Musk said X had a "UN exemption rule," whereby UN-recognized governments won't be suspended.
- "Hamas is not recognized as a government by the UN, so was suspended," Musk said.
Elon Musk said that banning a Hamas-linked account on his platform X was a difficult decision.
"This was a tough call," Musk wrote on Monday after a user had asked him why an account linked to the Palestinian militant group had been suspended.
The account, which had the handle "qassam2024," was tied to Hamas' military wing. Business Insider was not able to independently verify when the account had been suspended.
"While many government leaders, including in the USA, do call for killing people, we have a 'UN exemption rule'; if a government is recognized by the UN, we will not suspend their accounts," Musk said.
"Hamas is not recognized as a government by the UN, so was suspended," he continued.
Musk's decision was criticized by some users on X, who accused the billionaire of violating his own principles of freedom of speech.
"Lmao where is the free speech Elon Musk?? So basically UN is dictating your law?" one X user wrote.
"So the UN decides who gets Free Speech. Got it," said another user.
Before taking control of X, Musk had previously criticized the platform for "failing to adhere to free speech principles."
"Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy," Musk said in March 2022, using the platform's original name.
The self-proclaimed "free speech absolutist" has since made several controversial decisions since he bought the company in October 2022.
Notably, Musk reinstated former President Donald Trump's account just a month after the takeover. He has also reinstated other contentious right-wing figures such as influencer Andrew Tate and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Last month, Musk reinstated conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after polling X users.
Jones, who'd previously claimed the Sandy Hook school shootings were a hoax, was banned from the platform more than five years ago.
The decision was seen as an about-face for Musk, who had initially held back on reinstating Jones.
"My firstborn child died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat. I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics, or fame," Musk said in November 2022.
Representatives for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.