" High-profile " Twitter users are participating in a 48-hour virtual " abstinence " in protest of anti-Semitic tweets by grime artist Wiley.
Twitter of Wiley's posts and temporarily banned him for violating its policy , but critics say the company acted too slowly.
“The Metropolitan Police takes all reports of anti-Jewish hate speech very seriously,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “The relevant material is being assessed.”
The boycott began today, Monday, July 27, at 9 a.m., according to the political campaign "Labour Against Antisemitism."
"This is a protest against failure Twitter's platform #NoSafeSpaceForJewHate," the group said in a tweet.
Given the nature of the protest, it is impossible to estimate how many people are participating. However, the hashtag was the social media platform's most trending topic on Monday morning, and Twitter said there were nearly 50,000 posts related to it.
The Jewish Leadership Council, which is also participating in the boycott, claimed that the social media reaction to Wiley's tweets is not an isolated incident.
“We have been witnessing this behavior towards Jews and other victims on social media for years, with little or no intervention from social media companies,” the JLC said.
"These organizations have a responsibility to ensure that hate is not allowed to spread."
Home Secretary Priti Patel also called on social media companies to remove hateful content.
“Wiley’s anti-Semitic posts are abhorrent,” he wrote on Twitter. “They shouldn’t have been there, or on Instagram , for so long, and I’ve asked them for a full explanation. Social media companies need to act much more quickly to remove this appalling abomination from their platforms.”
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the virtual abstention.
"Abuse and harassment have no place on our service, and we have policies in place that apply to everyone, everywhere, regarding and harassment, violent threats , and hostile behavior. If we find accounts violating abuse any of these rules, we will take appropriate action," Twitter said after announcing Wiley's ban, without commenting on his departure from its platform.
