London-based rapper Wiley has been ejected from Twitter after he went on an anti-Semitic rant on Friday, July 24, facing instant backlash across social media platforms. Several tweets were taken down and his account was temporarily suspended on Saturday, July 25, but, per the BBC, his account appears to have been permanently locked as of July 29. Wiley’s deluge of anti-Semitic tweets included conspiracy theories, comparisons to the KKK, and more. “I don’t care about Hitler, I care about black people,†one tweet read. Now, if you search for him, instead of finding his profile, you’ll get a simple “Account suspended†and a link to Twitter’s rules. Several prominent accounts, including the band McFly, the Royal Opera, and Greenpeace U.K., protested Twitter’s response with a 48-hour boycott of the social media platform, beginning Monday and ending Wednesday at 9 a.m. in the U.K. They accused Twitter of allowing “48 hours of pure race hate†for leaving some tweets up and waiting to act.
Yesterday, Wiley was banned from Facebook after an unverified account under his real name, Richard Kylea Cowie, called out his primarily Jewish critics and asked to talk in a series of posts. The posts also repeatedly referenced Golders Green, a neighborhood in London with a large Jewish community. Facebook pulled the account, Wiley’s official verified account, and his Instagram profile on Monday, seemingly inspiring Twitter. “The closure of Wiley’s account is too little too late,†the Campaign Against Antisemitism, a volunteer-led charity in the U.K., said in a statement. “But it is at least a start for this deeply irresponsible social network.â€