UK Islamist Preacher Continues to Post Hate Online Despite Arrest, 2015 Social Media Ban

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - APRIL 08: Police officers guard an internet cafe on Cheetham Hill
Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

An Islamist hate preacher continues to proclaim jihad on his YouTube channel, despite having been previously arrested and banned from social media.

In a video posted just days after the Streatham terror attack, Abu Haleema, also known as Shakil Chapra, said: “We will strike terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve!”

Haleema’s YouTube channel, which has over 1,700 subscribers, hosts videos such as “You Will Be Replaced, Islam Will Be Superior” wherein he described a story from the Koran about non-believers being beheaded, a report by The Sun revealed.

The radical jihadist was arrested in 2015 after he released a video attacking the British Armed Forces, saying that he will never “submit” to democracy. Haleema was released on bail under the condition that he stop posting his Islamist messages on social media.

Despite the ban in 2015, his videos are still available on YouTube in the United Kingdom via an easily obtainable VPN (Virtual Private Network). The videos are restricted by the site, with the comment section and sharing features disabled.

The videos also come with a warning from the site that reads: “The following content has been identified by the YouTube community as inappropriate or offensive to some audiences.”

In response to the revelation that Haleema is still active on the site, a YouTube spokesperson told the newspaper: “In certain cases – where an individual is not subject to government sanctions and where videos aren’t illegal nor violate YouTube’s policies, but come close to violating our policies on hate speech and violent extremism -we apply tougher standards.

“These videos will remain on YouTube behind an interstitial, removed from recommendations, and stripped of key features including comments, suggested videos, and likes. We feel this strikes the right balance between protecting free expression and protecting our users”, the statement concluded.

Abu Haleema has been tied to several terror investigations and was featured in the 2016 Channel 4 documentary The Jihadis Next Door, alongside his radical compatriot and ISIS recruiter Anjem Choudary, who was automatically released from prison in 2018.

In the documentary, Haleema called for homosexuals to be killed. When asked how they should be executed, the jihadist said: “Well, one of them is obviously chucking them off high buildings.” Also featured in the documentary was Khuram Butt, who went on from being featured in the programme to being a leader of the 2017 London Bridge attack, in which eight people were killed by a terror cell of three Islamists.

Follow Kurt on Twitter at @KurtZindulka

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.