British grime artist Wiley has been permanently banned from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram after posting a series of antisemitic messages to his 490,000 followers on the social networks on Friday last week.
The artist, known as the Godfather of Grime, has been widely condemned for the antisemitic tirade, which lasted hours. He is also being investigated by police over the posts and was dropped by his management company.
On Friday, Wiley wrote a stream of tweets comparing Jews to the Ku Klux Klan, that Jews controlled states’ money and that the Jewish community “would do anything to ruin a black man’s life”. He also retweeted a Holocaust denier and posted a series of hate videos on Instagram.
Before being removed from social media channels, a 48-hour Twitter boycott took place to highlight the company’s inaction, after many of his incendiary tweets remained live for hours.
Numerous MPs supported the Twitter walk out, and Home Secretary Priti Patel said on Twitter: “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”.
More than 29,000 people have signed a petition urging the government to strip Wiley of his MBE. Wiley was made an MBE for services to music in 2018.
The Change.org petitioner said: “The Cabinet Office must remove his MBE, to make clear to the British Jewish community and wider society that these messages are unacceptable and dangerous. He cannot be allowed to hold such an important title whilst being a known antisemite”.
Today, The Voice newspaper, which serve Britain’s black community, has taken down a controversial interview with grime artist Wiley following accusations it “echoed and amplified” antisemitism.
