No, Kangana Ranaut's Twitter account has not been reinstated

Hyderabad: A screenshot of a tweet purportedely of Kangana Ranaut is being shared with the claim that Elon Musk has reinstated the actress's Twitter account. The tweet reads, "Thanks Elon Musk, I am Back now!!"

The claim comes after Tesla CEO Elon Musk acquired Twitter by closing his $44billion deal.

A Facebook user shared the tweet and wrote, "#ElonMusk Reinstates The Most Controversial Bollywood Actress Kangana Ranaut Twitter Account!"

Ranaut's account was permanently removed in May last year after her controversial tweet on violence in West Bengal after the Assembly election result. Twitter had said the account repeatedly violated the social media site's policy on "hateful conduct and abusive behaviour."

Fact Check

NewsMeter noticed the Twitter handle—@TheKangnaRanut—on the viral screenshot.

We searched for the username on Twitter and found that the account is unverified and joined Twitter in October 2022.

We then searched for Ranaut's archived tweet and found that the Twitter handle of her verified account used to be "@KanganaTeam."

On searching the username "@KanganaTeam" on Twitter, we found that the account remains suspended.

On 28 October, Elon Musk, in a tweet, announced that a content moderation council will decide on account reinstatements and content decisions and no decision will be taken before this council convenes.

It is evident that the account impersonating Kangana Ranaut is fake. Hence, the claim is false.

Earlier, a screenshot of a Tweet of a parody account of former US President Donald Trump went viral. It was falsely claimed that Trump's Twitter account, which is also permanently suspended, has been reinstated after Elon Musk took over Twitter. The claim was debunked by NewsMeter.