THE Home Office has been urged to ban a popular American streamer from entering the UK ahead of a festival appearance.
A Labour MP has called for left-wing internet personality Hasan Piker to have his visa revoked over a number of comments he has made regarding Israel and Hamas.
The prominent streamer, who has more than three million followers on Twitch and more than 1.5 million on Twitter/X, is listed as a speaker at London SXSW next month.
He is set to take part in an event titled "How the American Left Learned to Speak the Internet".
The list of speakers on the festival's website highlights how Piker is "redefining what political commentary looks like in the digital age", with the streamer regularly reaching 30,000 viewers daily.
But Labour MP David Taylor have argued that Piker should not be granted entry to the UK over previous comments he has made.
In 2019, Piker allegedly claimed that "America deserved 9/11", a statement which he later admitted was "inappropriate".
And in April, Piker defended comments he made during an episode of Pod Save America, where he said that Hamas was "1000 times better" than Israel and that he "would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time".
Piker previously said that he is not antisemitic but "anti-Israel" in an interview with Variety last year.
The internet personality has also repeatedly spoken out against Israel's brutal onslaught of Gaza, which the UN has determined amounts to genocide.
Taylor, Labour MP for Hemel Hempstead, said that Piker's presence would be "not conducive to the public good", accusing Piker of "spout[ing] vile antisemitic rants".
He said: "It’s shocking that SXSW would invite someone who has openly supported a proscribed terrorist organisation and spouted these kinds of vile antisemitic rants to speak at their festival.
“With the unacceptable rise in antisemitism on our streets leaving British Jews in a constant state of anxiety, Hasan Piker is clearly not conducive to the public good.
“The Home Office must revoke his visa immediately.”
A spokesperson for the festival told The Times that the event brings together "a wide range of speakers with different associations, affiliations and perspectives" and that "inclusion in the programme does not imply endorsement of all organisations with whom a speaker may be directly or indirectly affiliated".
They added: "SXSW London is built as a platform for open exchange across culture, business, creativity and technology, guided by our ethical framework and code of conduct."
The Home Office declined to provide a comment, with a spokesperson saying the department does not routinely comment on individual cases.
Piker was also approached for comment.
