A major controversy is roiling the inaugural SXSW London festival after the UK government barred two high-profile American progressive political commentators, Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker, from entering the country to speak at the event — and the festival’s muted response to the entry ban has sparked widespread outrage, multiple speaker withdrawals, and accusations of abandoning free speech principles.
Both Uygur and Piker were scheduled to deliver talks at SXSW London and had also been invited to speak at the prestigious Oxford Union. Uygur was set to lead a session titled *Techno-Feudalism is Here. Who Are the Lords?*, while Piker’s planned appearance centered on the topic How the American Left Learned to Speak the Internet. The UK Home Office rejected the pair’s Electronic Travel Authorisations, justifying the decision with the vague claim that their presence in the UK would not be “conducive to the public good”.
In a public post on X, Uygur framed the ban as a direct penalty for criticism of Israel. He noted that British officials labeled his factual observation that Israel influences U.S. policy through campaign donations to a large majority of Congress as antisemitic. “I didn’t get banned for criticizing the UK, but for criticizing Israel,” Uygur wrote. “They broke the irony record by saying it was because I said Israel might control other governments. I wonder if they’re going to ban themselves.”
The Oxford Union, the other host of the two commentators’ planned events, immediately pushed back against the Home Office’s ruling, publicly condemning the entry ban and arranging a virtual livestream for Uygur and Piker to speak despite the travel restriction. SXSW London, by contrast, took a far more hands-off stance in its official statement released Monday: “Decisions on entry to the U.K. are a matter for the Home Office and the individuals concerned. SXSW London’s role is to convene a broad range of diverse voices and perspectives.”
That neutral, hands-off response triggered immediate fury from Piker and other scheduled participants. On X, Piker excoriated the festival, writing, “sxsw was a minor part of my trip to the uk, they totally didn’t defend me or cenk at all, they’re actual fucking losers and i will never work with them for the rest of my life. if you bought a ticket expecting to see me you should demand a refund.” During a Monday evening livestream, he doubled down on the criticism, contrasting SXSW’s inaction with the Oxford Union’s pushback: “Oxford Union at least had the integrity to be like, this is fucking bullshit, what is the British government doing? South by Southwest was like, lol peace!”
Multiple scheduled speakers have since pulled out of the festival in protest. Ash Sarkar, a journalist and contributing editor at UK progressive outlet Novara Media, publicly shared the email she sent to SXSW announcing her withdrawal, arguing that any event organizer that had accepted the Home Office interference without pushback failed to meet the basic standard of integrity in defending free expression against government overreach.
Zara Rahim, a political advisor who was set to join Piker on his scheduled panel, also pulled out and called out the festival’s contradictory stance. Rahim noted that the panel’s core goal was to examine why the public distrusts political institutions, gatekeepers, and existing power structures that dictate which voices are considered legitimate in public discourse. She highlighted the sharp irony: SXSW was supposed to host a conference exploring the future of media, democracy, dissent, and political power, yet responded with extreme caution when one of its scheduled speakers was barred from the country entirely.
This is not the first time SXSW has found itself at the center of high-profile controversy. In 2024, more than 80 artists withdrew from SXSW’s flagship U.S. event to protest the festival’s partnerships with the U.S. military and defense contractor RTX Corporation. Under pressure, SXSW ultimately reversed its decision, announcing that it would cut ties with military and weapons manufacturing sponsors for its 2025 event. The 2024 SXSW London event also faced widespread criticism and speaker withdrawals after it was revealed that former British prime ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron would make unannounced speaking appearances. Critics objected to the pair’s foreign policy records in the Middle East, particularly Cameron’s role as foreign secretary when the UK government backed Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The entry ban itself has drawn condemnation from across UK political circles, with senior politicians framing it as an unacceptable attack on free speech and a deliberate crackdown on criticism of Israel. Green Party leader Zack Polanski accused the current Labour government of going to great lengths to silence opposition to the Israeli government, while former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called the ban both an attack on the right to criticize Israel and an indictment of the UK government’s own “complicity in genocide” in Gaza.