The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust have today written to Twitter and Facebook to demand answers as to why the two social media giants allowed the rapper Wiley to broadcast “unadulterated hatred” on Twitter and the Facebook-owned Instagram platforms last weekend.
In the letters to Dara Nasr, Managing Director of Twitter and Nick Clegg, Vice-President of Global Affairs and Communications Facebook, the three organisations said: “The propagation of anti-Jewish conspiracies and glorification of violence were almost certainly in breach of existing UK laws but without question broke your community standards and terms of service. For the duration of his outburst, not only was your platform not a safe space for Jews but through your delayed action – many people, including young people, were able to see the posts.”
The letters, signed by Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl, incoming Chief Executive of the CST Mark Gardner, and JLC Chair Jonathan Goldstein demand answers on the three main issues concerning the Jewish community. These are: what went wrong; how they will stop a repeat of this shameful episode; and how they intend to address the wider impact of hate speech on their platforms.
The Board of Deputies, the JLC and the CST are currently observing a 48 hour social media silence as a protest against the lack of any meaningful response to Wiley’s extended tirade of abuse, under the hashtag #NoSafeSpaceForJewHate.
Read the letter here.