Azealia Banks has been suspended from Twitter after she went on a tirade writing aggressive tweets aimed at One Direction singer Zayn Malik.
Before her Twitter suspension Banks was dropped as a headline act at London’s Born and Bred festival because of her vulgar trash talk on the social media platform. This isn’t the first Twitter tirade that Banks has been on either.
Supporting freedom of speech is laudable, but here's five reasons why suspending Azealia Banks from Twitter is a good thing.
1. She incited homophobia
Banks Tweeted a lot of harsh words at Zayn inciting homophobia. She called him a “Faggot” with the word written in capital letters. She also tweeted, “keep sucking this yung rapunxel dick." This type of language doesn't deserve a place on the internet.
2. She spread racist hate
Banks threw phrases at Zayn like, “u a bitch nigga”, “u hairy curry scented bitch” , “you Punjab” and “you are a sand nigger who emulates white boys’ renditions of black male hood.” The language she was using is language that we don’t want in anyone’s vocabulary let alone circulating the internet on a celebrity’s Twitter account.
3. She attacked most minority groups
Pretty much no minority group was spared in her Twitter meltdown. Banks called Malik’s mother a “dirty refugee” adding refugees to her target list. The Twitter tirade managed to insult people of colour, homosexuals, refugees and Pakistanis.
4. Because she has a strong influence on young people
As a popular rapper, singer and songwriter Banks has a huge fan following. Her words are heard by thousands. She has a huge young fan base who could be easily influenced by her vulgar language and hate speech. Those words don’t need to be seen or heard by anyone, especially not young vulnerable ears.
5. She attacked a 14-year-old girl
The rapper also attacked 14-year-old American actress Skai Jackson in her Twitter rant. Banks took aim at the girl's mother saying she shouldn't let her daughter be over-sexualised. She tweeted that Jackson was a child who needed to wait until she grew hips, that she was a "Disney reject", and that her mum was "pimping her out."
Banks posted a photo to Instagram a few days ago that suggested she was angry about Malik’s new video being heavily influenced by her work. And that's how it starts...
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