Cenk Uygur, the host of the Young Turks online political talkshow, and Hasan Piker, who runs his own hours-long stream each day, have been banned from entering the UK by the British home secretary, Shabana Mahmood. They were supposed to address events at SXSW London, a creatives-led festival. Uygur was also planning to speak at the Oxford Union on Friday.
The move has sparked a political row and concerns that Keir Starmer’s government is censoring public debate.
Who are they?
Uygur, a 56-year-old activist and attorney, is known as a left-leaning populist with a large following on YouTube. He founded the Young Turks, a now well-established progressive media outlet, and also briefly campaigned to become the Democrat nominee in the 2024 US presidential election.
Piker, 34, Uygur’s nephew, is a Twitch streamer who has a combined following of more than 11 million across social media platforms and who started campaigning with Democratic candidates this spring. His discussions of politics, foreign policy and the failures of the American system have helped him become one of the most popular figures on the US political left, especially with his audience that skews young and male.
How were they banned?
The Home Office has confirmed that the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) of both men has been cancelled because their presence in the UK “may not be conducive to the public good”.
Any foreign national wanting to visit the UK needs permission to do so, either in the form of a visa or an ETA. Both can be refused for several reasons.
The rules include wide discretionary powers for the home secretary to exclude individuals from the UK on the basis that their presence is “not conducive to the public good because of their conduct, character, associations or other reasons”.
Do we know exactly why the Home Office has banned them from entering the UK?
There is no official on-the-record statement.
But it is understood that both men have been blocked because of concerns that they could exacerbate antisemitism. It came after Labour MP David Taylor and Christian Fisher, a survivor of the 7/7 bombings – as well as other MPs and campaigners – last week called for Piker’s visa to be blocked.
Uygur has framed Israel’s actions as “genocide”, “barbaric” and “savage” and accused Israel of using Jews as “human shields”. He has been accused of propagating antisemitic tropes in his criticism of Israel. Uygur has insisted that his criticisms are confined to an analysis of Israeli influence over US policymaking.
Piker has described Orthodox Jews as “inbreds” and in 2019 he said that “America deserved 9/11”, a comment for which he later apologised. He also claimed that allegations of sexual assault after the 7 October attacks were “rape fantasies” and “rape hallucinations”. Appearing on an episode of the Pod Save America podcast in April, Piker claimed Hamas was “a thousand times better than Israel” and said he “would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time”.
Piker has also, however, said that antisemitism is “a canary in the coalmine of fascism” and said Jews had “always been singled out by those in power as a scapegoat for instability and economic volatility”. Like Uygur, he insists upon a distinction between opposition to Israel’s actions and antisemitism.
Is there a possibility that Uygur and Piker could overturn the ban?
No. There is no right to administrative review or appeal against a decision made on an ETA application.
However, they could reapply in the future.
Who else has been banned using these discretionary powers?
In April, Mahmood gave the same reason – not conducive to the public good – when refusing permission for the rapper Kanye West, now known as Ye, to travel to the UK. His ETA was withdrawn after concerns over a string of antisemitic, racist and pro-Nazi comments. West subsequently apologised for his comments and blamed them on his bipolar disorder.
Also, 11 far-right activists were banned from entering the UK before a rally by Tommy Robinson supporters in central London. Those banned from entering the UK include Valentina Gomez, a US-based anti-Islam influencer, Eva Vlaardingerbroek, a Dutch influencer, and Dominik Tarczyński, a Polish politician and MEP.