Tommy Robinson Purge and Persecution Continues
The online purge and political persecution of British values and anti-Islam campaigner Tommy Robinson continues.
This began with him being permanently banned from Facebook and Instagram last week, which coincidentally was at the same time his expose on the BBC Panodrama was released.
Then the world’s biggest online store and book publisher and retailer Amazon removed his book Mohammed’s Koran: Why Muslims Kill For Islam which he co-wrote with Peter McLoughlin and was published in 2017.
Robinson’s autobiography Enemy of the State published in 2015 is still available for purchase in paperback and kindle format on Amazon.
Mohammed’s Koran details the violent history of Islam, debunking the common catch-cry that it is a religion of peace, and links it back to the Koran’s message. Amazon said in a statement that “we reserve the right not to sell certain inappropriate content”.
Amazon’s joined the big tech deplatforming movement of right wing personalities last month when they removed all books published by Castalia House, which is operated by alt-right commentator Theodore Beale known online as Vox Day.
Amazon said this was due to their book Corrosion: The Collapsing Empire front cover was too similar to the book The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi.
Robinson addressed his Facebook, Instagram and now Amazon deplatforming in YouTube video, linking it back to big tech and the mainstream media working with government to censor critics of Islam. He said of Amazon’s actions “they are literally burning books”.
The actions of Facebook, Instagram and Amazon come as the pressure grows on other major tech companies to deplatform Robinson from their services.
YouTube which is Robinson’s remaining primary means of mass communication has come under pressure to terminate his channel, including from prominent Labour MP Tom Watson.
But to this point YouTube has resisted this push arguing Robinson’s content on YouTube was fundamentally different to what he posted on Facebook and Instagram.
YouTube had already demonetised Robinson’s videos in January including the feature allowing him to receive direct financial contributions from his followers in the form of super chats.
Robinson hit out at Watson and the push to have him kicked off YouTube in a video which also addressed lawyers from a Jihadi family delivering documents to his family home. He maintained“My YouTube account has zero community strikes,” he said, “and zero copyright strikes. I’ve done nothing and said nothing wrong.”
Robinson has been preparing for his eventual deplatforming from social media by setting up his own online web platform. This began with him urging his followers to sign up to an email list at globalaim.co.uk. When Facebook and Instagram deplatformed him the website crashed, since then Tommy’s new web platform is tr.news.
Now the British authorities are taking Robinson back to court for his re-trial on contempt of court charges for which he was jailed for when he filmed outside a Muslim gang grooming trial in Leeds last May. He was freed in August when the conviction and the thirteen month prison sentence was quashed and a retrial ordered.
The fresh trial is being brought forth by Britain’s Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox QC MP with his government deeming the it was in ‘the public interest’ to do so.
Robinson will once again fight the charges and thought it was suspicious they were brought during this deplatforming period “I walked out of prison for this six months ago. What’s taken him five months? And then it’s going to take them another five months to get me into court. Another five months before a trial.”
Any media outlet in the UK that has been objective about Tommy Robinson’s plight has found themselves on the wrong side of big tech. The Unshackled’s UK affiliate Politicalite has been kicked off three advertising platform and its editors Facebook profiles were banned during the Tommy purge.
Tommy Robinson the man and the movement are too big for big tech to simply delete from the internet, or for the government to just lock in jail and throw away the key, as they attempted to last year. This will be the censors and big government’s biggest test