Free speech for Anjem Choudary: Twitter backed the Devil but banned Milo Yiannopoulos
So, farewell, Anjem Choudary, the UK’s leading gurning face of Islam. Choudary took over from hook-handed Abu Hamza and ‘Tottenham Taliban’ Omar Bakri as a the country’s Islamist-in-residence. But his carer is near its end.
Britain’s most controversial hate preacher, is today behind bars after finally being convicted of terrorism offences. The 49-year-old firebrand cleric, who has helped radicalise a generation of would be terrorists, was found guilty of inviting support for a banned organisation after swearing an oath of allegiance to Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil).
The Sun sees it as a victory for good over evil. The ‘Devil’ is locked up:
Did you follow Anjem on social media? The Guardian notes:
Social media giants had the last word on Anjem Choudary’s online posts, even after he was arrested for inviting support for Islamic State.
British authorities made repeated efforts to get his Twitter posts and YouTube videos taken down after an oath of allegiance to the Caliphate surfaced online with the preacher’s name on it, jurors at the Old Bailey were told during his trial in July.
But they had no power to force corporations to remove material from the internet even if it was believed to have fallen foul of UK anti-terror laws.
Choudary was not censored by censorious Twitter. Good. Free speech means just that. No buts.
The BBC adds:
Supporters of Choudary included:
• Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, the murderers of soldier Lee Rigby
• Suspected IS executioner Siddhartha Dhar
• Omar Sharif, a British suicide bomber who attacked Tel Aviv in 2003
• Brusthom Ziamani, jailed 12 years later for planning to kill in the streets of London
Sky continues:
The jury took less than three days in July to find Choudary and his co-accused Mizanur Rahman, 32, unanimously guilty of inviting support for a terrorist organisation. Choudary and Rahman were found guilty on 28 July, but for legal reasons the verdicts could only be reported on Tuesday.
Choudary’s key lieutenant, Siddhartha Dhar, was arrested at the same time as him in police raids in 2014. Dhar later skipped bail and fled to Syria with his young family, where he began taunting the UK authorities with a series of pictures and online posts.
The Mail says Choudary has been “nailed”, which is another way of saying crucified.
In other news, Twitter banned Milo Yiannopoulos; it did not ban Anjem Choudary. Remember when Twitter was the “free-speech wing of the free-speech party”?
Posted: 17th, August 2016 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
