YouTube removes rapper Wiley’s channel over ‘repeated violations’
British rapper has already been banned from Twitter, Facebook and Intstagram following a series of posts widely regarded as anti-Semitic
YouTube is the latest media platform to remove Wiley over what it termed the British rapper’s “repeated violations.”
The decision to remove his channel comes after pressure by groups in the United Kingdom, including the Campaign Against Antisemitism.
Wiley was removed late last month from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram following a series of tweets widely regarded as anti-Semitic and other social media posts.
Last week YouTube, which is owned by Google, suspended monetization on Wiley’s videos. But on Wednesday, reports noted that Wiley’s YouTube channel had disappeared from the media platform.
“Following contact between Campaign Against Antisemitism and Google, Wiley has now been banned from YouTube,” the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said in a statement Tuesday. “This should have happened faster but we are pleased that this now means that Wiley can no longer incite antisemitism on any of the major social media platforms and has lost the ability to broadcast his hatred to the hundreds of thousands of people who followed him.”
The CAA said Wednesday that the Cabinet Office had confirmed to the lobby group that it was reviewing Wiley’s MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), a chivalry award bestowed on the rapper in 2018.
A YouTube spokesman told The Jerusalem Post, “Following repeated violations, YouTube has terminated Wiley’s channels from our platform.”
Board of Deputies’ vice-president Amanda Bowman said she “welcomed the belated decision” by YouTube “to terminate Wiley’s channels, following continued antisemitic outbursts by the rapper.”
She said in a statement that the Board had asked YouTube “to pre-emptively block Wiley as it was obvious that he would seek to reoffend elsewhere,” adding: “Sadly, we were proven correct.”
In one video posted by the rapper in recent days, he reads the name of a Twitter user and demands to know whether she is a Jew. In another, Wiley calls on “you,” appearing to mean Jews, to try to take his passport away so he can see quite how much power this “you” has, according to the Campaign Against Antisemitism.
