June 4 UPDATE:
Reuters Adds Examples of Hasan Piker's and Cenk Uygur's Extremist Statements
Following communication from CAMERA and the publication of this post, Reuters commendably added examples of the extremist, pro-terror statements by Hasan Piker and Cenk Ugyur in both its English and Arabic reports. See below for a detailed update.
"Specialists are people who always repeat the same mistakes," German-American architect Walter Gropius once reportedly quipped.
By that measure, Reuters journalists are specialists in sweeping the bigotry and incitement of extremists under the rug and falsely depicting sanctions against them as discriminatory and unjustified muzzling of free speech.
Thus, in January 2026, CAMERA staff and letter-writers compelled the leading news agency to amend a report which completely erased Randa Abdel-Fattah's hateful statements which prompted the Adelaide Writers' Week organizers to disinvite the author ("Top Australian writers' festival cancelled after Palestinian author banned").
Reuters' initial selective reporting falsely depicted the festival's move as a case of anti-Palestinian discrimination. Following complaints about the article's false vilification of the local Jewish community as seeking to shut down Palestinian voices, Reuters commendably added critical context including an example of Abdel-Fattah's hateful rhetoric. The Jan. 16 clarification stated:
This Jan 13 story has been corrected to add context about the decision to disinvite Abdel-Fattah in paragraphs 4, 5 and her previous statements about Israel in paragraphs 7, 8.
But, sadly, the identical fault recurred in Reuters' June 1 report on Britian's decision to refuse entry to media personalities Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur. "UK blocks visits by left-wing US commentators Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker," with reporting by Sarah Young and Sam Tabahriti and editing by Andrew Heavens, similarly fails to cite any of the speakers' extremist and terror-supporting statements, referring to the two as "left wing" and critics of Israel, while ignoring their records of antisemitism and glorification of terror.
Thus, casting the British decision as politically based, and ignoring the duo's praise for terror and anti-Jewish bigotry, the article selectively reports:
Britain has blocked Cenk Uygur, a left-wing Turkish-American media personality, and his nephew, Hasan Piker, a U.S. left-wing commentator and influencer, from entering the country to speak at events, both said on Monday.
Uygur, who co-hosts the popular YouTube channel "The Young Turks" and Piker said they had been barred because of their views on Israel.
Britian's interior ministry said travel authorisation for "these individuals" had been cancelled as "their presence" in the UK may not be conducive to the public good" in a statement that did not mention Israel.
The article further advances without challenge the pair's false claim that the ban stemmed from their "criticism" of Israel, and that Israel dictated the British move:
"I've been banned for criticizing Israel. Are we free anymore?" Uygur posted, after he said he tried to board a flight.
Piker said: "The UK has revoked my visa as well. All at the behest of Israel."
At no point does the article cite a single example of the pair's past antisemitic statements, much less even mention that they have faced criticism for their antisemitic expressions. Providing such statements would have enabled readers to judge for themselves whether the decision was based on the public good or free speech infringement.
Piker has endorsed designated terror organization Hezbollah. As CAMERA UK's Adam Levick has previously documented:
Piker said America deserved Sept. 11, praised the Houthis, and glorified the "brave mujahideen" for wounding US Congressman Dan Crenshaw, who, during his third deployment in Afghanistan, was hit by an IED blast, causing him to lose an eye.
A day after the Oct. 7 massacre, Piker said, "Do you think that this happened out of nowhere? Do you think this happened out of thin air? Are you f***ing stupid? Do you think the Israeli state was just, like, peacefully coexisting, and then these guys came in with f***ing gliders out of nowhere?" he said angrily. "You cannot push people into a f***ing corner their whole lives and not expect them to fight back at a certain point."
Despite being repeatedly asked by Piers Morgan, in 2024, whether he condemned or condoned the Oct. 7 massacre, he refrained from directly answering the question. "I think that violent means of maintaining an apartheid is inevitably going to yield violent retaliation," Piker said.
And, as CAMERA's Omri Tubi has pointed out:
Piker has also said that if someone cares about Medicare or Medicaid fraud, they should kill U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL); that his favorite flag is Hezbollah's flag; and that a liberal Zionist is like a "liberal Nazi." Piker also compared Israelis to the KKK and argued that Hamas is "a thousand times better" than Israel. Additionally, Piker said that it "doesn't matter" to him if Hamas raped Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023.
About Ughur's extremism, The Jerusalem Post reported:
According to an X post made by the Young Turks founder, the British Home Office explained the move by declaring Uyger a “serious risk to the public order”following his claim that “Israel controls the American government through donations to 94% of Congress.”
“Are we free anymore?” Uyger asked in a second X post. “This is oppression of Western citizens by our own governments on behalf of a different country!”
In a third X thread, Uyger wrote that it is an “honor to have made Israel's enemies list. I'm very proud to have fought against their genocide.”
Multiple media outlets rightly provided examples of Piker's hate speech when covering the U.K. entry ban. The Guardian, which is hardly slanted in favor of Israel, did provide examples of the speakers' hateful statements. Thus, unlike Reuters, the Guardian's reporting informed ("Free speech activists condemn UK entry ban for Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur"):
Uygur has been accused of propagating antisemitic tropes in his criticism of Israel. …
Piker has faced a backlash over some of his comments – including reportedly saying on a 2019 stream that "America deserved 9/11", a comment he later apologised for and said was "inappropriate".
He has stood by his characterisation of Hamas as "1,000 times better" than Israel, and his claim that he "would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time", in an episode of Pod Save America, the podcast hosted by former staffers for Barack Obama. Piker has said he is not antisemitic, but anti-Israel.
Likewise, BBC had reported:
Other comments from Piker include a 2019 statement that "America deserved 9/11" which he later acknowledged was inappropriate.
He also stood by comments saying Hamas was "1,000 times better" than Israel and he "would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time" in an episode of Pod Save America.
AP was also more forthcoming than Reuters on Piker's support for Hamas, providing an example of one of his pro-Hamas statements ("Online commentator Hasan Piker and Cenk Ugyur barred from entering the UK for public events"):
Piker has faced criticism over some of his comments on the Hamas militant group, which is considered a terrorist organization in the U.K. and the U.S., among other countries.
In April, he told an episode of “Pod Save America” podcast that “I'm a harm-reduction voter, I'm a lesser evil voter, and therefore I would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time."
In addition, unlike Reuters, AP included a quote from a public figure who supported the ban on the basis of Piker's and Uygur's bigotry and support for terror:
David Taylor, a Labour lawmaker who called for Piker to be blocked, said that "there is no reason we should open our doors to those who seek to spread hate and division, especially someone who’s supported a proscribed terror group."
By completely omitting any mention of Piker's documented extremist statements (much less actually quoting them to enable readers to judge for themselves the justice of the cancellation), Reuters' selective reporting falsely depicts the U.K.'s move as a case of political discrimination against the left and the stifling of free speech.
As with the earlier Abdel-Fattah case, when the news agency initially failed to follow up on CAMERA's private request to add the missing information demonstrating the writer's extremism until members of the public also spoke out, Reuters has again thus far neglected to act on the watch dog's private correspondence.
"What Makes a Reuters Journalist?" the news agency's "Standards and Values" page asks and then answers. Among the listed "10 Hallmarks of Reuters Journalism," appears the following point about corrections: "Reuters is transparent about errors. We rectify them promptly, clearly and comprehensively, whether in a story, a caption, a graphic or a script."
Will Reuters again correct, thereby demonstrating that its journalists do indeed embrace journalistic accountability? And will the wire service introduce safeguards to ensure the "specialty" of falsely depicting terror sympathizers as hunted victims does not recur yet again? Or will this spurious specialty likewise join the "Hallmarks of Reuters Journalism?"
June 4: Reuters Adds Examples of Hasan Piker's and Cenk Uygur's Extremist Statements
Following communication from CAMERA and the publication of this post, Reuters commendably added examples of the extremist, pro-terror statements by Hasan Piker and Cenk Ugyur. The fourth and fifth paragraphs of the updated story now read:
In recent weeks, Uygur said on X that Israel was following "Nazi logic" over its attacks on Lebanon and said supporting Jerusalem was like being on the side of "terrorists", while Piker has said Hamas was "a thousand times better than Israel" and he would vote for Hamas over Israel.
In a 2019 video stream, Piker said "America deserved 9/11", a remark he subsequently said was inappropriate. He also described allegations Hamas carried out sexual violence during the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel as "rape fantasies" during a live-stream video in May 2024.
Reuters has likewise commendably amended the Arabic version of the same report.