Bassem Youssef’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter, has been removed. The Egyptian-American comedian’s official page, @BYoussef, now reads that “this account doesn’t exist”.

There has been speculation that one of Youssef’s last posts could have resulted in a suspension. According to screenshots by other X users, it criticised the weaponisation of the term ‘anti-Semitism’, saying it was being used as a “fear tactic” to “shutdown conversations” and “intimidate people”.

The comedian was evidently referring to discussions surrounding Israel’s attack on Gaza. “Anti-Semitism was an accusation that used to freeze the blood on people’s veins,” Youssef posted.

“I see many people now realising how this fear tactic is used to shutdown conversations and scare people. It’s been overused and abused in order to intimidate people. Are you still scared to be called an anti-Semite by those Zionists? Vote and tell me in your comments.”

Youssef posted the comment on Monday. His account was removed hours after. It isn’t clear if the removal is the result of a ban or a temporary suspension, or if Youssef himself disabled the account. The National has reached out to X and Youssef for comment.

According to X’s Help Centre, an account may be suspended if it is identified as spam, or if it has been hacked or compromised. Suspensions are also invoked if an account has been reported to X rules surrounding abuse.

“When an account engages in abusive behaviour, like sending threats to others or impersonating other accounts, we may suspend it temporarily or, in some cases, permanently,” X’s Help Centre reads.

Several other X users have criticised the apparent removal of Bassem Youssef’s account. “Egyptian-American comedian, television host, political influencer and surgeon Bassem Youssef’s X account with more than 11 million followers has been removed by X for speaking out against Israeli war crimes,” Dr Anastasia Maria Loupis posted on her X page, which has more than one million followers.

Human rights lawyer Qays Sediqi also criticised the apparent suspension: “X took down Bassem Youssef’s account because he spoke up for Palestinians,” he wrote. “Elon, what happened to free speech? Fix up lad!!”

Youssef went viral last year following interviews with Piers Morgan in which he used dark humour to point out the brutality of Israel’s war on Palestinians.

“Those Palestinians, they’re very dramatic. ‘Ah, Israel is killing us,’ but they never die,” said Youssef in one widely-shared clip from the interview. “I mean, they always come back. They’re very difficult to kill, very difficult people to kill. I know, because I’m married to one. I tried many times. I try to get to her every time, but she uses our kids as human shields.”

In the October 2023 episode, Youssef made several references to his wife, who is half Palestinian and still had family in Gaza. “We haven't been able to communicate with them in the past three days. Communication has been lost, so we don't know how they are doing, but we are used to that,” he said.

Weeks later, Piers Morgan interviewed Youssef again, this time in Los Angeles. The comedian brought up the differences between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism during the interview.

“I think there is a rise of anti-Semitism in the world,” Youssef said. “This is very dangerous. As a Muslim who has been through events where there were terrorist attacks somewhere and that [was] reflected back to us. I can completely feel that.”

He added that since the war began on October 7, he had had several messages from Jewish friends asking whether his wife’s family were safe.

“I think it is very important to agree on the language because the word anti-Semite has been used and abused, and most of the time not in the interest of the Jewish people,” Youssef said.