Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have deactivated the accounts belonging to the British rap star Wiley after he posted anti-Semitic remarks.
“There is no place for hate speech on Facebook and Instagram,” a company spokesperson told The Guardian. “After initially placing Wiley’s accounts in a seven-day block, we have now removed both his Facebook and Instagram accounts for repeated violations of our policies.”
Facebook owns Instagram.
“Let us be clear: hateful conduct has absolutely no place on our service and we strongly condemn anti-Semitism,” a Twitter spokesperson told The Guardian. “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 anti-Semitism on Twitter.”
Wiley, whose real name is Richard Kylea Cowie Jr., began his anti-Semitic rant on Friday. He tweeted that there are “2 sets of people who nobody has really wanted to challenge #Jewish & #KKK [Ku Klux Klan] but being in business for 20 years you start to understand why.”
He also asked if it’s anti-Semitic “to say Jewish people have power” and claimed that “Israel is not your [Jews’] country.”
Wiley also tweeted, “Zionists suck ya mum” and “Jewish people you make me sick and I will not budge hold this corn.”
On Twitter, the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism stated that the term “hold corn” is “slang for ‘take bullets.’ We consider this incitement to racial hatred.” They added that they reported him to the Metropolitan Police and asked that his account be suspended.
Wiley also retweeted a post that read, “Im [sic] so sick of f****ing Jews at this point. You are the most vile people in the history of humanity.”
On his personal Facebook page, Wiley wrote: “Listen Golders Green ring my sister and let’s meet asap”; “David Baddiel come and talk to my face”; and “Who called the police? Are you from Golders Green? I am coming to sit down with you ... Labyrinth you could come along as you have forgotten what colour you are.”
Golders Green is one of London’s most populous Jewish communities.
The move from the social-media companies came as Jewish groups worldwide conducted a 48-hour boycott of Twitter that started on Monday in response to Wiley’s posts.
