Christchurch attack: Twitter and Youtube in neo-Nazi radio row

Twitter and YouTube are under fire for promoting a radio station that defended the views of the Christchurch killer.

Armed police guard Al Noor mosque after it was officially reopened following last weeks attack. Picture: Getty

Twitter and YouTube are under fire for promoting a neo-Nazi radio station that defended the views of the Christchurch killer. The tech giants acted as a gateway to Islamophobic and anti-Semitic content on Radio Aryan, an online broadcaster thought to be based in Wales, in the UK.

The station described a hate-filled manifesto written by Brenton Tarrant, who murdered 50 Muslim worshippers in New Zealand, as raising “genuine fears that all white people have” about “the invasion of our lands”. It also claimed the massacre was “the price of diversity”.

Radio Aryan has previously broadcast readings of Hitler’s Mein Kampf and its website urges listeners to write in solidarity to jailed neo-Nazis, including Jack Renshaw, who plotted to assassinate the Labour MP Rosie Cooper.

Stephen Doughty, a Labour member of the UK home affairs select committee, said he had raised concerns with ministers and the tech companies but claimed they had failed to act. “It is absolutely clear they do not give a damn,” he said.

A key figure behind the radio station is a British far-right activist who uses the alias Sven Longshanks — a reference to Edward I, the king who expelled all Jews from England in 1290.

Longshanks has been using Twitter since 2015 with the handle @RadioAryan. His profile includes a link to the Radio Aryan website and his photo promotes the station and its fascist logo.

Longshanks — whose real name is Steve Stone, according to HopeNotHate, the anti-racism group — presents a show called The Daily Nationalist. It can be accessed through the Radio Aryan website and via a YouTube channel called The Daily National.

Hours after Australian-born Tarrant carried out the mosque shootings on March 15, Longshanks told listeners: “We condemn this attack, but the reasons he outlined in his manifesto are genuine fears that all white people have and that no politicians are actually speaking to.”

He referred to the massacre as a “price tag attack”, adding: “That’s what it is — the price of diversity.” His co-presenter, an American extremist called Grandpa Lampshade, suggested the attack had been staged.

One listener posted on the Radio Aryan website: “Never been so proud to be an Aussie.”

The station is thought to operate from a secret location in Wales. By broadcasting online it is able to bypass regulation by Ofcom.

Twitter deleted Longshanks’s account only after being contacted by The Sunday Times. YouTube also removed The Daily Nationalist broadcasts, conceding the channel may have been carrying illegal content promoting white supremacists.

Twitter said: “We do not comment on individual accounts. However, we prohibit behaviour that targets individuals based on protected categories including race, ethnicity, national origin or religious affiliation.”

YouTube said: “We do not allow videos that incite hatred on YouTube and work hard to remove content that violates our policies quickly.”

Longshanks said: “We categorically condemn all violence associated with nationalism and you will not find support for it anywhere in our podcasts or on our site.” The Radio Aryan site states: “Anyone feeling incited to hate a religion or race has misinterpreted our intentions.”

The Sunday Times