A MAN who runs a podcast and YouTube channel has been arrested after a councillor was sent racist abuse online.
Labour Councillor Dr Soryia Siddique, who represents Glasgow Southside Central, was subjected to racist and Islamophobic abuse online last week after she spoke about why she entered politics.
Siddique faced a barrage of online abuse following her appearance in a video for the campaign group, ElectHer, which aims to help women get into politics, according to the Sunday Mail.
According to the paper, some of the Labour councillor's comments were picked up by online trolls after a video was made specifically targeting Siddique.
One of the comments online trolls allegedly abused Siddique over was that she said she had been surprised by how “pale, male and stale” the political environment was when she entered.
Siddique (below), who was elected in 2012, also reportedly spoke about the challenges of being a woman in politics and her passion for the job, which were not commented on.
The podcaster and YouTuber Craig Houston, who has an online following of several thousand people, has now been arrested and charged by police.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “A 52-year-old man has been arrested and charged following a report of an online communication offence.
“He is due to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court at a later date and a report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal.”
A Glasgow Labour spokesperson told the Sunday Mail: “We understand the content of these videos is under police investigation and an individual has been charged.”
The online abuse aimed at Siddique came in the same week Nigel Farage was accused of racism after his party made a Facebook advert attacking Scottish Labour’s leader Anas Sarwar (below).
The video claimed Sarwar would “prioritise” the Pakistani community in Scotland, as it plays clips of the politician urging more people from South Asian backgrounds to get involved in politics.
Labour and the SNP have condemned the ad as “racist” and have called for Meta, who own Facebook, to remove it.
