The Center for Countering Digital Hate is a London-based advocacy group that targets accused “hate groups” and individuals for de-platforming campaigns to remove them from major social media outlets. The Center is best known for working with Rachel Riley to remove controversial far-right commentator Katie Hopkins from Twitter and conspiracy theorist David Icke from Facebook and Youtube.
In June 2020, the group launched a campaign that was promoted by NBC’s News Verification Unit against American conservative commentary website The Federalist, seeking to have Google ban the site from its advertising platform.1
CCDH has ties to the left-wing British Labour Party. The group’s founder, Imran Ahmed, is a former advisor to Labour Members of Parliament Hilary Benn and Angela Eagle. Board member Kristy McNeill is a former adviser to former Labour Party British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and former board member Morgan McSweeney resigned from the board to become chief of staff to Labour Party leader Keir Starmer.2
Targets
Katie Hopkins
In January 2020, the Center for Countering Digital Hate and British television presenter Rachel Riley began a campaign against Katie Hopkins, a British columnist and reality television star. Hopkins is well known for her commentary on social media where she is an outspoken proponent of immigration restrictions and has made inflammatory comments that have led to accusations of racism.3 She has also attracted attention for being retweeted by President Donald Trump.4 In mid-January, Riley and Center CEO Imran Ahmed held a meeting with Twitter executives in London to advocate for Hopkins’s removal from their platform on the grounds that she was using Twitter to “spread hate.”56
On January 30, Hopkins’s Twitter account was suspended for a week and all her past tweets were hidden. Twitter attributed the suspension to a violation of its “hateful conduct” policy. On June 19, Hopkins’s account was permanently suspended.4
George Galloway
In January, the Center and Riley also targeted former radical-left Member of Parliament George Galloway, whom they accused of spreading anti-Semitism online. At their meeting with Twitter executives, the Center and Riley pointed to an allegedly anti-Semitic Tweet which had gotten Galloway fired from talkRADIO. Though Twitter reviewed Galloway’s profile, his account was not suspended.78
David Icke
In April, the Center launched a campaign to de-platform David Icke, a conspiracy theorist best known for his theory that shape-shifting reptilians secretly control the world.9 In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, Icke has promoted a conspiracy theory that Jews and other nefarious elites have been using vaccines and the 5G cellular network to make people vulnerable to COVID-19.10 He also claims that healthy people cannot be infected by the disease.11 In response, the center published a 25-page essay entitled #deplatformicke which publicly called for his removal from all major tech and social media websites.12 As of May 2, the Center’s open letter attached to its essay had collected over 800 signatures.13
In early May, Youtube and Facebook deleted Icke’s accounts on their sites.13 Youtube issued a public statement that Icke had violated “policies prohibiting any content that disputes the existence and transmission of Covid-19 as described by the WHO and the NHS.”14
Zero Hedge
On June 16, financial blog Zero Hedge was banned from Google’s advertising platform, effectively demonetizing the site. Google made the decision after receiving a report from the Center which claimed that comment sections on Zero Hedge articles regarding Black Lives Matter contained racist content.15
The Federalist
Also on June 16, Google’s advertising platform issued a warning to The Federalist, a right-of-center political website, over racism in comment sections related to the George Floyd protests. The possible policy violation was brought to Google’s attention by the Center.15
Elon Musk
The CCDH has written several reports and articles criticizing X/Twitter owner Elon Musk since the latter bought the company in October 2022. According to CCDH founder Imran Ahmed, “The CCDH has been at the forefront of reporting on the hate proliferating on X/Twitter since Musk completed his takeover in late October 2022,” 16 claiming that Musk has allowed for a rise in hate speech on the platform since his acquisition. 16 In an interview with Financial Times, Ahmed described his efforts to drive away investors to X, claiming that, “We don’t talk in the language of technology, we talk in the language of morality … Advertisers are also human beings. Some of them just don’t want to fund the primary vector of hate and disinformation in our society.” 16 In July 2023, a lawyer representing Musk sent a letter accusing Ahmed and the CCDH of publishing falsified reports that claimed the platform was taking little action against accounts accused of “tweeting hate.” 16 After Ahmed called the letter a “declaration of war” X/Twitter filed a lawsuit against the CCDH, claiming that the group had illegally obtained Twitter data by accessing computer files belonging to technology company Brandwatch, which had worked with Twitter on how to advertise and promote on the platform. As of October 2023, the lawsuit is ongoing. 16
In October 2024, documents leaked from the CCDH and reported by journalists Paul D. Thacker and Matt Taibbi as well as the news outlet The Express Tribune claimed that the CCDH had a top priority “Kill Musk’s Twitter” campaign by early 2024 with the purpose of financially impacting the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) by pressuring advertisers to pull away funding prior to the 2024 Presidential Election on November 5, 2024. 17 According to the leaked documents, the CCDH planned the “Kill Musk’s Twitter” campaign by arranging meetings with roughly 16 congressional offices regarding Elon Musk’s own lawsuit against CCDH over “manipulating data to create a false narrative of increasing hate speech on Twitter.” The lawsuit by Musk against CCDH has been withdrawn as of October 2024. In addition, the leaked documents claim the CCDH met with lawmakers to adopt an “anti-disinformation” independent regulator to push against disinformation similar to the European Union’s Digital Services Act. According to the story reported by The Express Tribune, IRS regulations could see CCDH’s tax-exempt status “at risk if it is found that its activities primarily aim to influence legislation.” 17
COVID-19
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the CCDH, in March 2021, launched an online report discussing online disinformation relating to Covid-19. The report and subsequent campaign allegedly opposed several public health official views on methods of controlling the virus. According to the Center’s website, misinformation relating to the virus had been peddled by four types of actors: hate groups, groups which financially profit from misinformation, fringe political groups, and innocently misinformed citizens. 18 16 The report would later be cited by several officials from social media group X, then known as Twitter, and the Biden Administration. Facebook Vice President Monika Bickert later criticized the report by claiming that the results were, “free of evidence…[while] neglecting to explain how they came up with their numbers and conclusions.” 16
Don’t Feed the Trolls
In 2019, the Center for Countering Digital Hate published a 12-page pamphlet entitled Don’t Feed the Trolls: How to Deal with Hate on Social Media. The pamphlet calls for high-profile individuals on social media to entirely ignore “trolls,” or commenters who deliberately provoke negative reactions.19 The Center’s message has been endorsed by Rachel Riley and senior Labour Party figures including London Mayor Sadiq Khan and former Home Secretary Alan Johnson.20
Funding
According to tax records, during Imran Ahmed’s first year as chief executive of the CCDH in 2021, the company raised roughly $1.47 million with around $1.1 million coming from donor-advised fund Schwab Charitable Fund.16
In August 2023, U.S House Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a letter demanding the CCDH release lists of its funders as well as communications it has had with social media companies and federal agencies accused of attempting to censor Americans. After failing to do so, Jordan sent a subpoena to the organization while accusing the latter of colluding with the Biden Administration. 16
People
Center for Countering Digital Hate has ties to the left-wing British Labour Party and British left-progressivism. Imran Ahmed, a former Labour political advisor who wrote a book attacking the legacy of free-market thinker and Nobel-laureate economist Friedrich Hayek, founded CCDH in 2017. Ahmed previously advised then-Labour MP Hilary Benn and Angela Eagle, a Labour Party politician serving as an MP as of June 2020.2Board members with ties to the Labour Party include Kristy McNeill, at one-time an advisor to former British Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Gordon Brown. Morgan McSweeney resigned from the CCDH board to become chief of staff for Labour Party leader Keir Starmer.2
Other board members are associated with left-progressive organizations: Simon Clark is a nonresident senior fellow with the Democratic establishment-aligned think tank Center for American Progress, Johnny Oates is a Member of the UK House of Lords for the Liberal Democrats party, and Ayesha Saran is “migration program manager” for a UK-based left-progressive foundation.2Game show host Rachel Riley is listed as the organization’s “patron.”2
References
- Wulfsohn, Joseph A. “British Activists behind NBC News Report Pushing Google to Demonetize The Federalist.” Fox News. FOX News Network, June 17, 2020. https://www.foxnews.com/media/british-activists-nbc-news-report-google-demonetize-the-federalist.
- Lucas, Fred. “4 Things to Know About the British Group Targeting The Federalist.” The Daily Signal, June 23, 2020. https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/06/21/4-things-to-know-about-the-british-group-targeting-the-federalist/.
- Hutzler, Alexandra. “Who is Katie Hopkins? Far-Right British Activist Known For Racist Rants Finds Support from Donald Trump.”
- “Katie Hopkins permanently suspended from Twitter.” BBC. June 19, 2020. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53111295.
- Adejobi, Alicia. “Countdown’s Rachel Riley in secret talks over Katie Hopkins’ Twitter suspension.” Metro. January 30, 2020. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/30/countdowns-rachel-riley-secret-talks-katie-hopkins-twitter-suspension-12155524/.
- Williams, Rhiannon. “Katie Hopkins’ account locked after an anti-hate group met with Twitter.” Inews. January 30, 2020. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://inews.co.uk/news/technology/katie-hopkins-twitter-account-suspended-george-galloway-countering-digital-hate-391889.
- Frot, Mathilde. “Katie Hopkins locked out of Twitter after Rachel Riley intervention.” Jewish News. January 30, 2020. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/katie-hopkins-suspended-from-twitter-after-rachel-riley-intervention/.
- “George Galloway sacked by talkRADIO over allegedly anti-Semitic Tweet.” BBC. June 3, 2019. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48498010.
- Grady, Constance. “The Alice Walker anti-Semitism controversy, explained.” Vox. December 20, 2018. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/12/20/18146628/alice-walker-david-icke-anti-semitic-new-york-times.
- Harpin, Lee. “Icke antisemitic conspiracies viewed over 30 million times, new research shows.” The JC. May 1, 2020. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/icke-antisemitic-conspiracies-viewed-over-30-million-times-new-research-shows-1.499368.
- “#deplatformicke.” Center for Countering Digital Hate.” Accessed June 25, 2020. https://www.counterhate.co.uk/icke.
- “#deplatformicke.” Center for Countering Digital Hate. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://252f2edd-1c8b-49f5-9bb2-cb57bb47e4ba.filesusr.com/ugd/f4d9b9_db8ff469f6914534ac02309bb488f948.pdf.
- “Youtube terminates David Icke’s account over COVID-19 conspiracy theories.” Itv. May 2, 2020. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://www.itv.com/news/2020-05-02/youtube-terminates-david-ickes-account/.
- “Cornavirus: David Icke’s channel deleted by Youtube.” BBC. May 2, 2020. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52517797.
- Fraser, Adele-Momoko. “Google bans website ZeroHedge from its ad platformover comments on protest articles.” June 16, 2020. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/google-bans-two-websites-its-ad-platform-over-protest-articles-n1231176.
- Thacker, Paul D. “The New Push for Censorship Under the Guise of Combating Hate.” Tablet, October 1, 2023. https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/censorship-center-guise-combating-hate-covid-elon-musk
- “Leaked documents expose CCDH’s plan to ‘kill Musk’s Twitter’ ahead of U.S. election.” The Express Tribune, October 22, 2024. https://tribune.com.pk/story/2504609/leaked-documents-expose-ccdhs-plan-to-kill-musks-twitter-ahead-of-us-election
- “Dealing with Hate & Misinformation around COVID-19.” Center for Countering Digital Hate. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://www.counterhate.co.uk/our-response.
- “Don’t Feed the Trolls: How to Deal with Hate on Social Media.” Center for Countering Digital Hate. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://252f2edd-1c8b-49f5-9bb2-cb57bb47e4ba.filesusr.com/ugd/f4d9b9_ce178075e9654b719ec2b4815290f00f.pdf.
- Gibbons, Brett. “Gary Lineker and Rachel Riley are silencing trolls once and for all – by doing this one simple thing.” Birmingham Live. September 16, 2019. Accessed June 25, 2020. https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/gary-lineker-rachel-riley-silencing-16923908.