THE co-owner of GB News has been forced to deny charges of “Islamophobia” after an anti-hate charity exposed his Twitter history.
Paul Marshall, a hedge fund manager worth an estimated £680 million, owns a 41.2% stake in GB News and has been “deeply entangled with far-right ideologies, Islamophobia, and conspiracy narratives”, Hope Not Hate said.
The charity published an investigation into Marshall’s Twitter/X usage which showed his private account – named @areopagus123 – had “liked” and shared posts containing anti-Muslim and anti-immigration conspiracy theories.
One example saw Marshall appear to endorse calls for Europe to “start mass expulsions immediately” while others claimed that Muslim people were looking to start a “war”.
This is BIG.
— HOPE not hate (@hopenothate) February 22, 2024
We’ve uncovered the private Twitter account belonging to Sir Paul Marshall, co-owner of GB News. And it’s littered with likes and retweets of racist and Islamophobic content.
Read the full investigation: https://t.co/AvjL9SpxeA
Hope Not Hate reported that Marshall had liked or retweeted 16 posts from an anti-Muslim account called @WorldByWolf so far in 2024.
One of these read: “Civil war is coming. There has never been a country that has remained peaceful with a sizeable Islamic presence.
“Why do our leaders believe Britain would be an exception to that rule? Once the Muslims get to 15-20% of the population the current cold civil war will turn hot.”
Hope Not Hate managing director Nick Lowles said his charity had “uncovered the Islamophobic, racist, and homophobic tweets liked and retweeted by GB News co-owner Sir Paul Marshall”.
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Marshall is reportedly looking to bid on adding the Telegraph newspaper and Spectator magazine to his media portfolio – which includes GB News and Unherd – which would make him one of the UK’s most influential right-wing figures.
Lowles said his Twitter/X history showed he was “not fit” to hold such a position.
A spokesperson for Marshall said in a statement that his engagement on Twitter/X highlighted by Hope Not Hate does not “represent his views”.
The charity said that, after he was approached, Marshall’s history on Twitter/X was largely wiped.
Hope Not Hate reported: “Every tweet and almost 300 likes were removed from the account.”
Although it is private, the @areopagus123 account currently has just 42 posts, public information on Twitter/X shows.
A spokesperson for Marshall said: “Paul Marshall’s account is private but is nonetheless followed by 5000 people including many journalists. He posts on a wide variety of subjects and those cited represent a small and unrepresentative sample of over 5000 posts. This sample does not represent his views.
“As most X/Twitter users know, it can be a fountain of ideas, but some of it is of uncertain quality and all his posts have now been deleted to avoid any further misunderstanding.”
You can find the full Hope Not Hate investigation into Marshall’s social media on the charity’s website.
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