Female journalists face bomb threats

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 01 Agustus 2013 | 15.36

1 August 2013 Last updated at 04:12 ET

Police are investigating bomb threats made on social networking site Twitter against several female journalists.

Guardian columnist Hadley Freeman, Independent columnist Grace Dent and Time magazine's Catherine Mayer all said they had been threatened.

Anonymous account-holders tweeted that bombs had been placed outside their homes, primed to explode at 22:47 BST.

It follows rape threats made on Twitter against MP Stella Creasy and feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez.

Meanwhile, a petition calling on Twitter to do more to prevent online abuse has topped 100,000 signatures.

Doctoral student Kate Maltby said she had received an identical threat to the three journalists. "Looks like a campaign," she wrote.

'Woman with profile'

Sara Lang, a social media manager for US-based campaign group AARP, said she too had received a bomb threat, but police in Washington DC had since confirmed that her house was safe.

Freeman, who had earlier published a column entitled "how to use the internet without being a total loser", reported the threats to the Metropolitan Police.

The anonymous author of the tweet had "failed to understand my column", she wrote.

An investigation into the threats, which make the tweeters liable to be arrested, was then launched, a Met spokesman confirmed.

The anonymous accounts have since been suspended, but screen grabs of the tweets have been circulated on the social media site.

Mayer said she had been tempted to ignore and delete the "not very credible-sounding" tweet.

But the police advised her, Dent and Freeman not to stay at their homes overnight and had searched her building for suspicious devices, she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Freeman remained home as she "did not think it was worth taking that seriously".

She explained there was no rationale for why she was targeted, adding: "There's some kind of assumption that you have done something, that you must have written something particularly controversial...

"My great crime is that I'm a woman with some small amount of public profile - that is enough it seems."

'Twitter moderators'

The incidents follow separate rape threats on Twitter against Labour MP Stella Creasy and Caroline Criado-Perez, who had successfully campaigned to have author Jane Austen depicted on the new £10 note.

Freeman added: "Threatening to bomb and rape people is illegal. We need to apply the law in the same way online as we do in the real world.

"There should be a button to report abuse more easily. Twitter makes millions - they can afford some moderators."


Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Female journalists face bomb threats

Dengan url

http://sarapanoatmeal.blogspot.com/2013/08/female-journalists-face-bomb-threats.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Female journalists face bomb threats

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Female journalists face bomb threats

sebagai sumbernya

0 komentar:

Posting Komentar

techieblogger.com Techie Blogger Techie Blogger