Hasan Piker said the UK has revoked his visa, blocking him from appearing at SXSW London this week. The political commentator said the move stopped him from traveling for the event and followed calls for him to be kept out of the country.
The dispute landed just as Piker, who has more than 3 million followers on Twitch and more than 1.5 million on X, was due to speak in London. Cenk Uygur, who said he was also banned from entering the UK, said he tried to board a flight to London for SXSW London and a speech at Oxford before being stopped.
The case has become a flashpoint because it sits at the intersection of free speech, online politics and the UK’s rules on who may enter the country. Last week, Labour MP David Taylor called for Piker to be prevented from speaking, saying his presence in the UK was not conducive to the public good. Separately, SXSW organisers described Piker as redefining what political commentary looks like in the digital age and said his live streams reached more than 30,000 people every day.
But the fight over Piker is also bound up with his own history. He reportedly said on a 2019 stream that America deserved 9/11, later apologised and said the comment was inappropriate. He has also stood by his description of Hamas as 1,000 times better than Israel and by his claim on Pod Save America that he would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time. The Community Security Trust urged organisers last week to act responsibly and not allow the UK to become a platform for him, accusing him of promoting rhetoric that includes antisemitic themes, denial of well-documented atrocities and apparent support for extremist groups.
Piker has said the revocation happened at the behest of Israel, while other reported objections centered on antisemitism and the public good. The Home Office has declined to comment, leaving no official explanation on the record for why the visa was revoked or which authority made the decision. That silence means the most important question remains unsettled even as Piker and Uygur say the door to their UK appearances has already closed.
