Who is Stonetoss? The right-wing cartoonist that Elon Musk is suspending people for identifying

Elon Musk made a big song and dance about free speech when he first bought Twitter, but the latest development has thrown that commitment into yet more doubt.

We know from a very awkward interview the other day that he doesn’t even like being asked about his approach to free speech, and he may be facing more uncomfortable questions after people claimed they’d been suspended on Twitter/X just for identifying a right-wing cartoonist.

That right-wing cartoonist goes by the moniker of Stonetoss – or at least he did until people started sharing his alleged name on the platform.

Users are now reporting that Twitter/X is removing posts and even suspending accounts, all because they’ve been sharing the name “Hans Kristian Graebener” on there.

For background, Stonetoss is a webcomic who has gained popularity among the far right over recent years. The themes of his cartoons often feature anti-semitic, racist and anti-LGBT+ themes and one comic even engages in Holocaust denial.

Now, his identity has supposedly been revealed by a group known as the Anonymous Comrades Collective, who identify themselves as "antifascist journalism collective dedicated to exposing Nazis, racists and fascists".

The group published a report claiming to have uncovered Stonetoss’s identity, claiming he’s an IT consultant from Texas whose real name is Hans Kristian Graebener.

Users are now posting screenshots appearing to showing posts being removed that revealed Graebener’s name – and the Anonymous Comrades Collective account and its posts was suspended after they posted about Stonetoss.

It appears that action has been taken after Stonetoss posted a message calling for Musk's help.

Clearly not liking losing their anonymity, the account wrote: "One of you has a direct line to @elonmusk - and you need to use it. If Elon's idea of a 'free speech' website is one where people can be intimidated into silence, the outcome will be a site where the Stasi will drive out all dissent."

"If he needs a shortlist of the worst offenders, that can be easily provided.”

It’s another story which, sadly, personifies the decline of the platform.

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