Five communal groups to meet Twitter executives over online hate

Five communal organisations will meet with Twitter executives to discuss online hate in wake of grime artist Wiley’s antisemitic outbursts.

The delegation will consist of representatives from the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC), the Community Security Trust (CST), the Antisemitism Policy Trust (ATP) and the Office of the Chief Rabbi.

Among the senior Twitter officials in attendance at Thursday’s virtual meeting will be Global Vice President for Trust and Safety, Del Harvey.

It is understood, that the Board has joined Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council, making it better-placed to intervene over antisemitism.

This comes after Wiley was banned from social media platforms Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube after posting antisemitic messages and videos. Communal groups then took part a 48-hour social media walkout to protest inaction, after his content remained online.

In a statement, the five communal groups said the virtual meeting with Twitter chiefs will “be an opportunity to review the Wiley incident and other issues relating to antisemitism and racism on the platform.”

In early September representatives from the Board, JLC, CST and ATP took part in a high-level consultation meeting with senior policy officials from Facebook, including the social media giant’s vice-president, Nicola Mendelsohn.

The government is currently considering the On Line Harms Bill but it is not expected to be in front of Parliament for final approval until 2021 – and concerns have been raised about its impact on freedom of speech.