TikTok influencer sentenced over anti-Semitic posts

A TikTok influencer who posted “nauseating” anti-Semitic videos online has been given two suspended prison sentences.

Fiona Ryan, 40, who has more than 50,000 followers on TikTok, was found guilty of four charges relating to “highly offensive” material between March and April.

She pleaded guilty earlier this month to two other offences which took place in October 2023, when she posted on X “showing support and glorification for the actions of Hamas”.

Ryan, from Salisbury in Wiltshire, was sentenced at the town's magistrates court on Thursday.

She was given a 12-week suspended prison sentence for four separate offences of sending offensive communications in 2024, and an eight-week suspended sentence for the two offences in 2023, to run consecutively.

District Judge Timothy Pattinson said Ryan’s comments were “disgusting and nauseating” and “motivated by hostility based on race and religion”.

Mr Cooper, for the prosecution, told the court the four 2024 offences covered a number of social media messages.

Victim impact statements were read from former Wilton Town Councillor Alexandra Boyd, who is Jewish, who said the material posted by Ryan “shattered my sense of security” and “left me feeling vulnerable and targeted”.

The court also heard from Ryan’s neighbours who said the constant playing of a song about antisemitism - played to the tune of ‘If you’re happy and you know it’ - made them “feel angry and disgusted”.

They added that Ryan’s behaviour made them “fear for their lives”.

Ryan, of Laverstock Road, told the court she was “remorseful” for posting the content.

She was also sentenced to 20 weeks' rehabilitation, and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £154 and prosecution costs of £650.

Correction - 15 November: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Alexandra Boyd had stepped back from her role because of the material. She had stepped back for an unrelated reason.

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