UK Bars US Streamers Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur Over Support for Hamas and 9/11 Comments

U.S. citizens Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur, preventing them from entering the country for scheduled appearances this week. Piker, a Twitch streamer with a daily audience of 30,000, was set to speak at an event titled "How The American Left Learned To Speak The Internet" at SXSW London in East London's Shoreditch.

" at the same festival. Piker had also planned to meet left-wing UK lawmakers on June 4, while Uygur was slated to address Oxford University students. SXSW London is a six-day event covering business, technology, music, film and culture, with more than 800 speakers, artists and screenings planned.

Labour MP David Taylor, who last week called for Piker to be barred, thanked the home secretary for the decision. "There's no reason to open our doors to those who seek to spread hate and division, especially to those who've supported a proscribed terror group," Taylor wrote on X.

The Community Security Trust welcomed the move and stated that Piker has a record that goes far beyond robust or controversial political speech, including rhetoric that contains antisemitic themes.

Liberty Human Rights director Akiko Hart said government decisions that restrict speech must adhere to the high standards set out in UK law and that the government should be transparent about why and how such decisions are made. " A SXSW London spokesperson said decisions on entry are a matter for the Home Office and that the festival remains focused on delivering a programme fostering open dialogue.

Piker made a 2019 statement that "America deserved 9/11," which he later acknowledged was inappropriate, and said Hamas was "1,000 times better" than Israel and that he "would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time" in an episode of Pod Save America.