Hertsmere Borough Council has joined politicians and celebrities in taking part in a 48 hour boycott of social media in protest at Twitter's handling of anti-Semitic posts made by a musician.

The council said it "whole-heartedly" supports the boycott and will not be publishing any content on its social media channels on Monday (July 27) or Tuesday (July 28).

It has also joined calls for an explanation in what the council says appeared to be a "woeful lack of speed" by Twitter in confronting anti-Semitic tweets made by grime artist Wiley.

Twitter has been accused of "ignoring anti-Semitism" after his tweets were still visible 12 hours after they were first posted. However, a number of tweets have now been removed.

Twitter said Wiley's account had been temporarily locked "for violating our hateful conduct policy".

Forty-one-year-old Wiley, whose real name is Richard Cowie, has been condemned over the weekend for his tweets.

Borehamwood Times:

Grime Artist Wiley. Credit: Ian West/PA

His actions have also been condemned by the leader of Hertsmere Borough Council, Cllr Morris Bright, and opposition leader, Cllr Jeremy Newmark, who as councillors in Hertsmere, both represent one of the largest Jewish populations in the UK.

Cllr Bright tweeted: "It's supposed to be social media not anti social media. Enough of the sputum and hate. Hope when we all return this is a happier place."

He accompanied his tweet with the campaigning hashtag #NoSafeSpaceForJewHate.

Cllr Newmark added: "In response to the failure of Twitter to act against this hate speech and antisemitism, prominent figures have backed a grass roots campaign called ‘Silence Talks’.

"Thousands of politicians, celebrities and others have pledged to leave Twitter for a 48 hour walkout period starting at 9am Monday morning."

The council says it will publish on social media during the boycott in an emergency.

Borehamwood Times:

Hertsmere Borough Council offices in Borehamwood

Earlier on Monday, Downing Street said Prime Minister Boris Johnson believes Twitter and Instagram's response to anti-Semitic posts by Wiley "has not been good enough".

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said Mr Johnson shared Home Secretary Priti Patel's view that Wiley's posts were "abhorrent".

Meanwhile, Britain's Chief Rabbi has accused Twitter and Facebook - which owns Instagram - of lacking "responsible leadership" in their response to the anti-Semitic posts.

In letters sent to Twitter boss Jack Dorsey and Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, Ephraim Mirvis said: "This cannot be allowed to stand. Your inaction amounts to complicity."

He said he would join in the 48-hour boycott.

Borehamwood Times:

Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis. Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA

Police confirmed over the weekend they are investigating a series of comments made on the musician's Instagram and Twitter accounts on Friday that led to him being banned from both for seven days.

Before then, the Campaign Against Antisemitism asked police to investigate the content and called for Wiley's accounts to be shut down "to prevent further outpouring of anti-Jewish venom".

Petitions have also been set up calling for Wiley's MBE to be forfeited.

Wiley was awarded an MBE in 2018 for services to music.

Wiley was dropped by his management company over the weekend in response to his tweets.