Aberdare white supremacist jailed over racist X posts

A 24-year-old white supremacist from Aberdare has been jailed for 20 months after posting vile racist content that attracted millions of views on X – but the social media platform has refused to remove the posts, claiming they don’t violate its policies.

David Morgan, from Dare Road in Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, has 127,800 followers on his X account titled with a Welsh flag and the words “David Morgan #StayFree”. His second account, New Right Rising, has 5,800 followers.

Morgan pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court to publishing nine posts with intent to stir up racial hatred. The tweets, posted in September and October last year, included images glorifying Nazi gas chambers, depicting black people as monkeys, and advancing conspiracy theories blaming Jewish people for global economic instability and the 9/11 attacks.

The posts included an image of a hazmat-suited figure with a Nazi armband spraying gas towards a caricature of a Jewish man, a monopoly board implying all black people should be in prison, and Holocaust victim Anne Frank saying: “Gas me outside.”

Despite repeated complaints to X – including from an MP – the platform repeatedly determined there was “no violation” of its terms and conditions. The website is owned by Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, who has been accused of allowing racism to spread largely unchecked on X since his 2022 takeover.

Morgan was reported to police by Caroline Ost, a Jewish user of X, who told the court: “At that time Morgan’s posts consisted of anti-vax and 5G conspiracy theories with a smattering of racism, so I ignored it as the nonsense it was. But when I checked again at a later date, I was horrified by what I saw. He had gone full Nazi. Every post was blaming Jews for anything and everything. I reported him to X, which determined there was no violation, so he was able to continue, egged on by a huge number of followers.”

Ms Ost added: “My MP spoke to X and got the same response: no violation of its terms and conditions. In desperation I reported him to the police.”

Adam Morris, another Jewish user who had been fighting for South Wales Police to act for more than a year, told the court: “He was verified on X, which meant he was allowed to monetise his posts, and I would not be surprised if he profited financially given the metrics of his account. Absurdly, X considers the posts acceptable under its terms and conditions.”

Mr Morris said South Wales Police initially did “absolutely nothing” and that an officer had advised him “not to look at the posts and not to get wound up by online jokes”. The prosecution only proceeded after Counter Terrorism Policing Wales became involved.

The court heard Morgan was “an isolated young man” who had been “shunned” by his family because he had rejected their Jehovah’s Witnesses faith.

His barrister Hywel Davies said: “Ms Ost’s description of him as a person is extremely accurate. He was pandering to racist stereotypes in the hope of gaining some shallow popularity to fill his otherwise empty life.”

The barrister added: “He has had significant bereavements, leading to social isolation and a deeper and deeper spiral into the cesspit of this side of social media.”

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke described Morgan’s words as “appallingly prejudiced” and “disgracefully antisemitic and racist”. She told him: “Your posts caused very serious hurt and increased the risk to the safety of Jewish and black people in this country… Those posts remain on X to this day. It is said that you are remorseful but I also take into account what the probation officer stated in the pre-sentence report – although you offer an apology, it is unclear what you are apologising for.”

Because of his “entrenched and extreme” views, and the probation service’s assessment of him as posing a high risk of serious harm, Judge Lloyd-Clarke said only an immediate jail term could be justified.

Morgan, who has no previous convictions and receives £1,000 a month in universal credit, was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison.

When South Wales Police was asked about Mr Morris’ criticism, a spokeswoman said: “[The force] received a report in 2023 about the content of Morgan’s online posts. The complainant did not support a criminal investigation and asked for Morgan to be spoken to be warned about his conduct online. Following enquiries, Morgan was located and spoken to. An additional report by a second person was made in 2024. this was investigated as a hate crime prior to an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing Wales, resulting in his conviction for terror offences.”