When someone goes rogue on social media and starts firing off offensive and harmful posts – when does the platform need to step in? It’s a question that’s been posed after UK rapper Wiley recently went on an anti-semitic social media rant.
Late last week, 41-year-old rapper Wiley whose real name is Richard Cowie, posted a series of hurtful insults and conspiracy theories about Jewish people.
After the posts went viral, Wiley’s management severed ties with the artists and his posts soon became the subject of a British police investigation.
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“The antisemitic posts from Wiley are abhorrent,” British Home Secretary Priti Patel tweeted. “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 faster to remove such appalling hatred from their platforms.”
Even a Downing Street spokesman commented on Wiley’s tweets, telling Associated Press, “we have set out very clearly that Twitter’s performance has not been good enough in response to the anti-semitic comments made by Wiley and it needs to do much better.”
According to the Washington Post, Twitter removed some of Wiley’s offensive tweets and temporarily locked his account. However, some were still visible and the original posts were up for at least 12 hours, according to AP.
The BBC reports that Instagram also removed some of Wiley’s anti-semitic posts.
This response, or lack thereof, has now sparked a ‘virtual walkout’ and 48-hour boycott of social media platforms which has gained support from several UK celebrities and politicians.
In a letter to Facebook and Twitter heads Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis wrote, “your inaction amounts to complicity.”
“Antisemitism, or any form of bigotry, has no place in our societies or on social media,” he added, as per the Washington Post.
In a statement, Twitter said the platform is “committed to amplifying voices from underrepresented communities and marginalised groups” and reinforced its Hateful Conduct Policy which “prohibits the promotion of violence against – or threats of attack towards – people on the basis of certain categories such as religious affiliation, race and ethnic origin.”
As social media giants continue to face pressure to remove offensive material and misinformation from their platforms, the debate around freedom of speech, automatic content moderation and more continues. However, one thing is for certain, we are at a major turning point when it comes to social media and how it will exist in the future.
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