Musician Wiley has been banned from Twitter for an antisemitic rant - here's what happened

Over the weekend, British rapper Wiley posted a thread of antisemitic comments on his Twitter account.

He has since been banned from the social media platform for seven days.

The incident has seen calls for social media platforms to tighten their policies around hate speech - including from Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Here’s what you need to know.

Who is Wiley?

Wiley is the stage name of British rapper Richard Kylea Cowie Jr.

He is regarded as a pioneer of the British underground music scene and considered a key figure in the world of grime.

He is often referred to as the “Godfather of Grime”.

In the 2018 New Years Honours, he received an MBE for his services to music.

What did Wiley say on Twitter?

Taking to Twitter, Wiley shared various conspiracy theories and insulted Jewish people, accusing them of being “snakes” and suggesting that they are “at war” with black people.

He wrote: “There are 2 sets of people who nobody has really wanted to challenge #Jewish & #KKK but being in business for 20 years you start to understand why. Red Necks Are the KKK and Jewish people are the Law… Work that out.”

He also tweeted: “If you work for a company owned by 2 Jewish men and you challenge the Jewish community in anyway of course you will get fired.”

Amongst his tweets, Wiley also wrote that Jewish people should “hold some corn” which is a slang expression meaning “to be shot”. He added: “Jewish community you deserve it.”

As a result of his tweets, Wiley’s management company, A-List Management have “cut all ties” with the rapper.

John Woolf, who is Jewish, wrote on Twitter: “Following Wiley’s antisemitic tweets today we at @A_ListMGMT have cut all ties with him. There is no place in society for antisemitism.”

However, in a video posted on Instagram, Wiley claimed it was he who cut ties with his management, not the other way around.

Why was Twitter accused of “ignoring antisemitism”?

While a number of tweets from the musician have now been removed, and the 41-year-old has been issued with a seven-day ban from the site, his tweets remained visible for 12 hours after first being posted.

He was initially banned from Twitter for only a few hours, but on Saturday (25 July) morning he tweeted to his almost 500,000 followers that he was “back in action” and continued with his antisemitic tweets.

He was then banned again for seven days.

Twitter has been accused of “ignoring antisemitism”, with various MPs criticising the company for allowing the tweets to remain online for as long as they did.

Labour MP Jess Phillips said on Saturday: “Just seen all the Wiley stuff. Why on earth have @Twitter left up such blatant antisemitism and hatred? It hits all the dangerous beats, Jews get things you don’t get, they are in control, they think they're better… This is dangerous stuff. Surely it should come down.”

Fellow Labour MP Neil Coyle also wrote: “His management appear able to act quicker than @Twitter emphasising, once again, that legislation (including the Online Harms Bill) should ensure social media platforms are not used to spread hate.”