British authorities said Monday they blocked Hasan Piker, a Turkish American online streamer, and another political commentator from entering the U.K. to speak at public events.
Piker, a liberal political commentator who is frequently critical of U.S. President Donald Trump, Israel and the war in Gaza, has 2.8 million followers on Twitch.
The Home Office said that the electronic travel authorization, or ETA, for Piker and Cenk Uygur, who hosts the “Young Turks” online political talk show and is reportedly Piker’s uncle, were canceled “on the grounds that their presence in the U.K. may not be conducive to the public good.”
“Decisions to refuse or cancel an ETA on these grounds are based solely on an assessment of the potential risk an individual may pose to U.K. society,” the Home Office said.
Piker and Uygur were due to speak at SXSW London, a culture, technology and creativity festival, this month. Uygur was also expected to give a speech at the Oxford Union, the prestigious student debating society.
“A sad state of affairs where obviously the interests of Israel take the highest priority,” Piker said on his YouTube channel.
Uygur said on X that he had been banned “for criticizing Israel. Are we free any more?”
Piker has faced criticism over some of his comments on the Hamas militant group, which is considered a terrorist organization in the U.K. and the U.S., among other countries.
Eh… the USA is bigger and has more people to call this shit out, so the slide towards fascism can’t be as quick.
But the UK is, as a default, a lot more tolerant (or— I thought it was ), so the dynamics of all of this happening is… More complicated?
Seeing this all play out in real time is… Very weird and kind of fascinating
I feel like I’m learning a lot, but I also feel like I’m learning that I know nothing. More than anything, I’m feeling very confused.
UK falling into fascism isn’t likely, but authoritarianism, sure.
The UK doesn’t have a constitution, nor a constitutional right to freedom of speech. We’re a monarchy and have basically functioned under a family tradition for centuries of selecting the leader of the largest elected party as prime minister, and long may that continue. When government has tried to interfere in democracy, this family has clamped down on it. The constitution of the USA is nothing here.