Ed Kelsey recently claimed he was “permanently banned” from X (formerly Twitter) for an apparent violation of their “Terms of Use.”
Ed Kelsey shared an article on Facebook on Saturday alleging that arms dealers are using X to sell weapons while operating in Yemen.
“Arms dealers are free to peddle their wares on X, but I was permanently banned and they didn’t give me a reason, just a general ‘terms of use’ violation,” he wrote.
Ed Kelce is the father of Travis Kelce, who played tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs in the National Football League (NFL) and is in a relationship with pop star Taylor Swift, and former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.
He later clarified on Facebook that he had posted his previous message to point out the hypocrisy of social media platforms.
“It was Elon’s, quite frankly, who posted about the arms dealer operating in X. [Musk] “Trolling,” he wrote.
Ed Kelsey said he rarely posted on X, “just followed sports reporters” and was “active on X/Twitter from September through February, reading other people’s posts.”
He added: “Apparently Xtwits thinks I made a post in May or June 2023 that went against their rules. That didn’t happen. I think I was hacked because the platform isn’t that secure. My comments at the start of this conversation were just meant to highlight the hypocrisy of these social media bastards.”
Newsweek has reached out to Mr. X via email for comment.
Travis Kelce and Ed Kelce were photographed in Stateline, Nevada on July 12th. Ed Kelce claimed he was recently “permanently banned” from X (formerly Twitter), due to an alleged violation of their “Terms of Use.” Travis Kelce and Ed Kelce were photographed in Stateline, Nevada on July 12th. Ed Kelce claimed he was recently “permanently banned” from X (formerly Twitter), due to an alleged violation of their “Terms of Use.” David Calvert // Getty Images for American Century Investments
Meanwhile, dealers are reportedly using social media platforms to sell Kalashnikov rifles, pistols, grenades and grenade launchers.
An investigation by the British newspaper The Times found that some of the Yemeni accounts bore a blue stamp of verification, and the ads were written mainly in Arabic and aimed primarily at Yemeni customers.
The traffickers are believed to be operating from Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and other areas under the control of the Houthis, who are believed to be responsible for a series of attacks in the Red Sea and have intensified their attacks on shipping at sea as the war between Israel and Hamas continues.
Since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in October 2023, the Houthis have reportedly targeted more than 80 ships with the aim of disrupting the navigation of vessels linked to Israel and its allies. However, many of these attacks have struck vessels with no apparent connection to the conflict, including those bound for Iran.
Musk, who bought Twitter in 2022, has made numerous changes to the social media platform, including rebranding Twitter to X last year. Meanwhile, Musk has altered the site’s functionality through initiatives such as removing article headlines, introducing a monthly fee for verified accounts and offering more character limits to premium users.
Some users report that Facebook has become more divisive and less fact-based than before, while Musk argues that Facebook is the least restrictive of speech compared to other popular social media platforms. A Columbia Business School report released earlier this year found that “interactions with fact-checker accounts and unbiased media accounts have fallen by 52% and 27%, respectively.”
In June, Travis Kelsey said on the podcast “Bussin’ With the Boys” that his father would sometimes see misinformation about his relationship with Swift on Facebook.
The father then asked his son if the rumor was true.
“You know what he’ll do? He’ll see something amazing happen and he’ll be like, ‘What is this?'” Travis Kelce said. “It’ll be something really unexpected, like me and Taylor. He’ll be like, ‘Hey, what’s up, you guys OK?'”
“I said, ‘Dad, get off Facebook. Are you kidding me?’ It’s his search engine.”