Days after UK conservative activist Tommy Robinson upstaged an upcoming BBC "hit piece" on him with his own documentary, Facebook banned him from their platform - including Instagram, after a BBC contributor contacted them.
Robinson's hour-long Exposé, Panodrama, features undercover footage of BBC journalist John Sweeney making racist and classist statements, and reveals how the BBC collaborated with a "radical far left" organization, HOPE not Hate (funded in part by George Soros) to take Robinson down.
The BBC is also accused in Panodrama of bribery, blackmail and intimidation tactics agains former Robinson employees to "invent stories" against the former English Defence League leader.
"This is massive. This is Britain’s leading investigative journalist documentary by the BBC, that we pay for, creating, editing news, in order to destroy my life," said Robinson.
"Panodrama is out!" announced Robinson in a YouTube video. "Go on my Facebook page, it's pinned to the top."
Unfortunately for Robinson, Facebook - which is currently under tremendous pressure by UK lawmakers for violating privacy laws, may have gotten a tap on the shoulder after BBC contributor Mohammed Shafiq took action.
Tommy Robinson being banned by Facebook and Instagram was timed deliberately so he couldn’t defend himself against the BBC hit piece about to come out.
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) February 26, 2019
This is how they operate.
But conservatives keep preaching “muh free market” until we are silenced into oblivion.
BBC contributor Mohammed Shafiq acknowledged contacting Faebook to discuss Robinson's pages "and their impact in brainwashing his supporters to become terrorist and use violence against Muslims."
As journalist Nick Monroe points out, Shafiq has been outed as a "religious extremist" who supports blasphemy laws (Monroe has been documenting the entire Robinson takedown, click on tweets below and scroll up for more).
"Why would Mo Shafiq promote the event of a man that advocates and celebrates murder in the service of ‘blasphemy’? And if that is Mo Shafiq in the image, why would he attend such an event?"
— Nick Monroe (@nickmon1112) February 26, 2019
"It has now been confirmed that the man in the above images is in fact Mo Shafiq." pic.twitter.com/x2BP8m0xS3
In Panodrama, Robinson can be seen confronting Sweeney about a misleadingly edited segment in the BBC documentary concerning a past dispute with an employee.
"You find it fun to tell someone that an innocent comment is sexualised — do you know what that would do to my family? Do you know what that would do to my children? Do you know what you are doing to my family? You’ve no idea what you’re doing to my family," Robinson yelled at Sweeney.
"They’re scripting the documentary. They’re also creating and inventing news — ‘sexual thing’ against Tommy Robinson… What else was going to be said? What are lies and manufactured evidence would there have been on this documentary?"
"We’ve seen the BBC, who pride themselves on being impartial and reporting the truth, you’ve witnessed the main man from Panorama telling someone what to say, brokering a deal on what they have to say about me," Robinson concludes.
Sweeney can also be heard calling working-class men "cannibals from Amazonia" along with other offensive remarks, which the BBC admitted: "some of the footage which has been released was recorded without our knowledge during this investigation and John Sweeney made some offensive and inappropriate remarks, for which he apologises."
Responding to the ban, Robinson told Breitbart London: "…the reasons they’ve given are just complete lies. They’re saying I incited violence and that I openly called for violence against Muslims, that’s just a lie. If that was the case then they could show evidence of messages where I’d said that but I never have."
"This is continued censorship which we all knew was coming but its been done instantly because of my documentary which exposed the establishment working with Hope not Hate, working with the BBC in order to destroy my name to the nation. When I exposed what they were doing they’ve put down the pressure to completely delete me from the internet. This has to show people the levels they’re gonna go to silence any opposition to mass migration and the Islamisation of this nation."
Robinson’s removal from the platform is only the latest in a series of bans targeting the campaigner in recent years. He was de-platformed by Twitter in May 2018, banned from receiving payments by Paypal in November of that year, and had Youtube videos blockedfrom earning revenue in January 2019.
Mr Robinson told Breitbart London that he would be working on his own mobile app for live streaming after his removal from several social media sites. -Breitbart London
My friend #TommyRobinson banned from Facebook and Instagram for speaking the truth.
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) February 26, 2019
But the truth cannot be censored! pic.twitter.com/DfmYUj3DBz
Facebook claimed in a nebulous statement that their decision to ban Robinson because his Facebook page "has repeatedly broken these standards, posting material that uses dehumanizing language and calls for violence targeted at Muslims. He has also behaved in ways that violate our policies around organized hate. As a result, in accordance with our policies, we have removed Tommy Robinson’s official Facebook Page and Instagram profile."
NOTE: FACEBOOK DOES NOT CITE SPECIFIC EXAMPLES. NO SCREENSHOTS. NO ANYTHING. pic.twitter.com/3d17IueG4D
— Nick Monroe (@nickmon1112) February 26, 2019
Meanwhile, thousands of people attended a Sunday rally against the BBC in support of Robinson, where Panodrama was unveiled to the public for the first time.
More bannings
Also of note, British political activist and former editor-in-chief of Breitbart News London Raheem Kasaam, as well as Inforwars host Owen Shroyer have had their Facebook pages taken down as well.
Raheem Kassam @RaheemKassam has his Facebook page ALSO REMOVED at the same time as Tommy Robinson https://t.co/94xPKIZ88g pic.twitter.com/bgT8v4EbNQ
— Nick Monroe (@nickmon1112) February 26, 2019
J Owen Shroyer (@allidoisowen) also down https://t.co/TNCa77eAGr pic.twitter.com/heNe4YlgTv
— Nick Monroe (@nickmon1112) February 26, 2019
After intervention from Donald Trump Jr., however, Facebook reinstated Kassam's account.
***UPDATE***
— Raheem Kassam (@RaheemKassam) February 26, 2019
Following this intervention from @DonaldJTrumpJr and others, Facebook has now reinstated my account.
Thank you to Don Jr. and all the others who got so involved and ahead on this story. I've no doubt you frightened Facebook into acting.
Raheem https://t.co/mbtBV9Sz4O
If by “as soon as we were able to investigate” they mean “as soon as Don Jr called us out publicly,” then I believe them. https://t.co/jmgVvQfBMH
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) February 26, 2019
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