The UK’s home secretary has demanded a “full explanation” from Twitter and Instagram as to why they didn’t act immediately to remove anti-semitic posts by British rapper Wiley, in which he compared Jews to the Ku Klux Klan and said Jews were behind black slavery.
The grime artist has been temporarily banned from both Twitter and Instagram, where he has more than 940,000 followers.
UK police are investigating the posts.
In a tweet, Priti Patel said the posts were antisemitic and “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 said.
While Twitter removed some of Wiley’s tweets with a note saying they violated its rules, other tweets were still up 12 hours after being posted. The social media giant later said Wiley’s account had been locked for seven days.
Facebook, which owns Instagram, said there was “no place for hate speech on Instagram,” and also suspended Wiley’s account for seven days.
In several Tweets, Wiley stated he is the reason “Jews are rich.” He also said, “Jews make me sick.”
A number of British lawmakers have joined a 48-hour “Twitter walkout” from Monday morning in protest over its inaction. Jewish Twitter users have called out to allies and fellow users of the platform to join the boycott, under the hashtag #NoSafeSpaceforJewHate.
A change.org campaign has been circulated calling for Wiley’s MBE — the British order for outstanding contribution to community — to be revoked.
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