CAMPAIGNERS and activists have urged the social media platform X and regulator Ofcom to act urgently after dozens of posts containing racist abuse directed at British Asian politicians and public figures remained online for more than 72 hours, despite a commitment to remove flagged content within 48 hours.
The British South Asian Bridges Project reported 33 tweets last Friday (15) containing racially aggravated abuse targeting prominent figures including home secretary Shabana Mahmood, Zarah Sultana MP, Zia Yusuf of Reform UK, former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf and journalists Sangita Myska and Mehdi Hasan. As of Monday (18) evening, all 33 remained on the platform with no visible action taken.
One tweet directed at Mahmood read: “No one wants you scabby p*** c***, why are you surprised, rapey cockroaches.”
Sultana MP was sent an image of a noose alongside a racial slur. Yousaf was told to “watch yourself” in a message that also used a racial slur. Hasan was told he was “neither British nor American” and to “p*** off.” One user sent Myska an abusive message telling her she “will be deported.” Reform’s Yusuf and former home secretary Sajid Javid were also among others targeted.
Several posts came from repeat offenders. One user had used the same racial slur more than 50 times in three months, with targets including several sitting MPs, research from British Future thinktank revealed.
Another had used it approximately 100 times within a single month alone. A third user’s profile banner openly included the phrase “the only good Muslim is a dead one.”
Yet all remained active on the platform.
Of the 33 reports submitted, 28 generated an automated acknowledgement within roughly 60 seconds. Five received no acknowledgement at all. No further communication was received on any of the days that followed.
The 48-hour commitment had been made by X last Friday, following a six-month Ofcom investigation into illegal content on the platform.
Ofcom announced that X had agreed to review suspected illegal terrorist and hate content within an average of 24 hours of it being reported, and to block accounts linked to proscribed terrorist organisations in the UK.
X will also be required to submit quarterly performance data over 12 months so that Ofcom can monitor whether it is delivering safety improvements for UK users.
'Taking evidence to Ofcom'
Avaes Mohammad of the British South Asian Bridges Project told Eastern Eye on Monday (18) that campaigners were now taking the evidence directly to Ofcom, the government and parliamentary select committees.
“X made a commitment on Friday to take down racist content within 48 hours, but it was still there this morning – 72 hours later. We are building pressure through MPs and select committees, which looks very promising. There needs to be pressure on Ofcom and on X to take down racist content,” he said, adding that the problem was concentrated on one platform.
Mohammad said, “X is where the majority of the hate is. If we make a difference on X, it echoes elsewhere. You do not have the same problem on Instagram or Facebook. Most of it is on X.”
Mohammad also placed the issue in a broader historical context. “It has taken decades of anti-racist struggle to ensure slurs like the P-word and N-word are removed from society. Social media platforms like X have created a sanctuary from which they can resurface. At the British South Asian Bridges Network, we are holding X accountable to their own commitment of taking down racist and hate speech within 48 hours and ensuring racism has no space anywhere, whether in the real world or online.”
Samir Bhamra, founder and director of Phizzical Productions, said the issue had affected him directly and professionally. “As a south Asian theatre maker, I know firsthand the toll of this systemic failure. When paying for social media adverts to promote my creative work, those spaces were immediately weaponised by vile keyboard warriors threatening myself and my performers with hatred and violence. These platforms are happy to take our advertising money, yet they completely fail in their duty to protect us from blatant abuse.”
Joe Mulhall, director of Research at Hope not Hate, said his organisation previously pushed for action.
“In March, we asked Ofcom to open a formal investigation into X. Now we have a commitment from Musk to remove 85 per cent of reported illegal hate and terror content on his platform within 48 hours. It is a decent first step, but 15 per cent of hate and terror content left to proliferate is still too much. This band-aid solution still leaves the onus on users to report illegal content and clean up a toxic platform. Hope not Hate will be keeping a close eye on X and Elon Musk to make sure they come good on their promise.”
Ofcom also said it launched a separate probe into X in January over its AI chatbot Grok’s imagecreation feature, which has been used to produce sexualised deepfakes. That investigation remains ongoing. Britain’s data watchdog has also launched a wider inquiry into X and xAI over whether they complied with personal data law in connection with the same tool.
An Ofcom spokesperson said: “We condemn racism in all its forms. Some of the online abuse people experience is illegal under UK law, such as some types of threatening or abusive behaviour and harassment targeting ethnic minorities.
“Under the Online Safety Act, social media companies must take appropriate steps to prevent their UK users from encountering illegal content. If a post is reported to a platform, it must decide whether the content breaks UK laws.
“Our job is to make sure sites and apps have appropriate measures in place to comply with their duties. These commitments from X are a step forward, but there’s a lot more to do. We’ll be carrying out quarterly reviews of X’s performance.”
Eastern Eye has contacted X for comment.
