Has Twitter banned Nicki Minaj? Singer's claims debunked by platform
Nicki Minaj's controversial tweet about the Covid-19 vaccination has taken another dramatic twist, after the singer claimed she was in "Twitter jail" on September 15. The phrase is a common reference to being locked out of Twitter, which the platform uses as a punishment for people who violate its terms of service the first time. However, it appears Minaj is lying, as a spokesperson confirmed the platform had taken no action, despite the blatant misinformation Minaj tweeted.
The 'Anaconda' hitmaker turned head days ago when she revealed she won't be attending the 2021 Met Gala, due to the event's vaccine mandate. She followed that up with a tweet claiming the vaccine causes impotence, which led to a flurry of condemnation. Of course, Minaj wasn't the only celeb to skip this year's event, several others like Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and Taylor Swift also opted out, but none captured the kind of attention Minaj did.
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Needless to say, Minaj claims that the vaccine causes impotence is fake. Nonetheless, the singer appeared to stick to her guns in numerous follow-up tweets, followed by an ominous silence on September 15. The reason? She claims she was banned from Twitter, but it appears that's not entirely accurate.
Was Nicki Minaj banned?
"I'm in Twitter jail y'all. They didn't like what I was saying over there on that block," she said in an Instagram story on August 15. That however doesn't appear to be the case. Minaj's Twitter account is still visible on Twitter, and none of her tweets appear to be blocked, including the controversial one about her cousin's friend's testicles. If you need a refresher, at the center of the controversy is this September 14 tweet - "My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied.
My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 13, 2021
Now normally a tweet like that would get flagged by Twitter as misinformation, but it appears Twitter has let Minaj off the hook. Not only is the tweet still up, without a label or warning, but it also appears the company didn't take any action against Minaj, despite her claims to the contrary. A Twitter spokesperson told Vulture, "Twitter did not take any enforcement action on the account referenced." That claim was backed up by Philip Lewis, a senior editor at HuffPost who also received a similar message.
So was Minaj lying? That seems to be the case. Minaj's claim that she's in "Twitter jail" is still up on Instagram, and she even followed it up with two screenshots of tweets supporting her anti-vax stance. It's unclear when those tweets were made, but if she was able to access them in the past few hours (when they went up), then that would contradict her claims of being unable to access Twitter. Around the same time Minaj put up the story, she also retweeted two tweets in support of her. The timestamps indicate those retweets were made the same hour as the story went up, so it's good proof that she wasn't banned from the platform, or even restricted.
That hasn't stopped Minaj from continuing her strong anti-vax battle though. She's followed up with a 14-minute video on Instagram, where she claimed she wasn't invited to the White House, contrary to their claims. Prior to her alleged ban, she also engaged in a battle with many Twitter users over her claims and shared tweets of those in support of her. The FDA and CDC have confirmed that the Covid-19 vaccines are safe, and do not cause swollen testicles as Minaj claimed.