Zia Yusuf's censored immigration message defended by Laila Cunningham: 'Everything he said is true!'

Zia Yusuf has been fiercely defended by Laila Cunningham after being censored by TikTok, as she declared "everything he said" in the footage was "true".

Speaking to GB News, Reform UK's London Mayoral Candidate took aim at the Online Safety Act, which was cited as the reason for the video being removed from the social media site before being reinstated.

Mr Yusuf accused Labour of using the Online Safety Act to "silence their opponents" after the video was taken down.

The social media platform claimed Mr Yusuf's video on the state of Britain's immigration levels contained "hate speech" or "hateful behaviour".

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Defending the video, Ms Cunningham told GB News: "I think the Online Safety Act was billed as something to protect children, and I've said many times that actually, what you're going to find is that it will curb political dissent.

"And that's what you're seeing here. Perhaps TikTok is scared of million pound fines being imposed, so they err on the side of safety, but I wouldn't blame TikTok, I blame the legislation."

Taking issue with the video being censored due to "hate speech", Ms Cunningham argued there is "nothing harmful" about what Mr Yusuf spoke about.

She said: "Everything he said is completely true, it was all based on facts. And the problem is, when you go down the path of subjectively deeming something as harmful content, anything can be harmful content.

"And now what you're seeing with the Government is anything they don't agree with or anything that criticises their record can be deemed as harmful content, that's the way it is."

Reflecting on the numerous events in London over the weekend, Ms Cunningham argued those attending the Unite the Kingdom march were seen as "harmful", but not those at the Pro-Palestine demonstration.

She told GB News: "When people march with signs of the IRGC, with signs of Ayatollah Khomeini saying Death to Jews and death to the West, that's not harm - but if you wave a flag and you say immigration is too high, that is deemed harm."

Ms Cunningham stressed she has "never been a fan" of the act as it hinders "freedom of speech".

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She recalled: "When I first defected to Reform, I said one Conservative policy that I really hated was the online safety bill, because for me, a fundamental freedom is freedom of speech.

"And you could see it with Covid, once the Secretary of State has the discretion to curb anything that they deem harmful, our freedoms of speech are no longer in our hands, they are in the hands of the Government."

Defending Mr Yusuf's video further, Ms Cunningham argued he is simply highlighting the "genuine concerns" of Britons.

She told GB News: "I don't see what hate is in that video. Zia has stated facts, and everything he said is true. And these are legitimate concerns that the British public face and their legitimate public opinions.

"They're so legitimate that we're polling highest with these opinions. We've won local elections, and yet we are not allowed to voice what millions of British people feel."

In a statement, a Department for Science, Innovation and Technology spokesman said: "The decision to remove content is made by the platforms independently.

"The Online Safety Act is designed to keep children safe online - protecting them from harmful content - and not to censor political debate.

"It doesn't enable platforms to arbitrarily remove content, and tech firms have a duty to uphold freedom of expression."

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