Twitter Hits Wiley With Permanent Ban For Anti-Semitic Remarks
Tweets by Grime musician prompted Twitter boycott, but Wiley also had Facebook and Instagram accounts deleted for ‘repeated violations’ of rules
Twitter has permanently banned Grime musician Wiley after he remained unrepentant for tweeting anti-Semitic tweets last Friday.
On Monday politicians and celebrities staged a 48 hour boycott of Twitter over the time it took to tackle some of the anti-Semitic tweets from Wiley 41, whose real name is Richard Cowie.
Police are investigating the offensive anti-semitic comments that included conspiracy theories about Jewish people and other insulting material.
Permanent ban
Wiley’s offensive tweets prompted Wiley’s management company, A-List Management, to “cut all ties” with the ‘artist’.
The offensive tweets from Wiley also prompted an immediate response from the Government, that saw Home Secretary Priti Patel writing to Twitter and Instagram about the length of time it took to remove the “abhorrent” posts.
And even Number 10 Downing Street got involved.
Social media companies must “go much further and faster in removing hateful content” from their platforms, the prime minister’s spokesman said.
Twitter had initially banned Wiley’s account for seven days, but on Wednesday it confirmed it has permanently banned him from the platform.
“Upon further investigation, our teams have permanently suspended the account in question for repeated violations of our hateful conduct policy,” Twitter was quoted by ITV as saying in a statement.
“Let us be clear: hateful conduct has absolutely no place on our service and we strongly condemn antisemitism,” it added. “We are sorry we did not move faster and are continuing to assess the situation internally.
“We deeply respect the concerns shared by the Jewish community and online safety advocates, and we will continue to work closely with government, NGOs, civil society partners and our industry peers to tackle antisemitism on Twitter,” it added.
No remorse
Wiley sealed his fate when he continued his offensive postings.
After he had been temporarily banned on Twitter, he had continued his anti-semitic comments on other platforms.
The BBC for example found abusive posts aimed at his Jewish critics on Facebook and Instagram, under his real name Richard Kylea Cowie.
He specifically named Jewish celebrities – including Lord Alan Sugar, comedian David Baddiel and BBC presenter Emma Barnett.
Facebook has now deleted Wiley’s Facebook and Instagram profiles for “repeated violations” of its policies.
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