Home Secretary Priti Patel has demanded an explanation from Twitter and Instagram over the length of time it took to remove a series of antisemitic posts made by Wiley.
It comes after the godfather of grime posted a series of antisemitic comments to his social media accounts.
Posting on Twitter yesterday (July 26), the Home Secretary wrote: “The antisemitic posts from Wiley are abhorrent. They should not have been able to remain on Twitter and Instagram for so long and I have asked them for a full explanation.”
“Social media companies must act much faster to remove such appalling hatred from their platforms,” she added.
Facing backlash from a number of users, Twitter was accused of “ignoring antisemitism” as Wiley’s tweets were still visible 12 hours after they were first posted.
Twitter removed some of Wiley’s tweets with a note saying they violated its rules – but other tweets were still visible 12 hours after being posted. A number of tweets have since been removed and the rapper has been issued a seven-day ban by the site.
Wiley’s antisemitic outburst was disappointing to say the least. The godfather of grime commands a huge social following, and with that the responsibility to utilise his platform for good rather than for the promotion of what we consider to be hate speech. We hope Wiley may explain his actions and apologise to a community hurt by his words.
Reported By: Jessica Rowe