One of Oxford University’s leading student journalists has been the recipient of an anonymous Twitter bomb threat. Tweets were sent out on Wednesday to a number of female journalists, including Cherwell Editor Anna Leszkiewicz.
The tweets contained the message “A BOMB HAS BEEN PLACED OUTSIDE YOUR HOME. IT WILL GO OFF AT EXACTLY 10.47PM ON A TIMER AND TRIGGER DESTROYING EVERYTHING” and are being investigated by the police. Identical messages were sent to other female journalists, including former-Cherwell Editor Hadley Freeman and TV critic Grace Dent. Police were called to Leszkiewicz’s house and confirmed that the threat is believed to be a hoax.
Leskiewicz told Cherwell that “[she] didn’t take the threat seriously, but it was still quite a jarring message to read. I reported it after I realised the user was targeting women, and read that the police were asking recipients of the tweet to inform them.”
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Twitter has come under fire in recent weeks following a spate of incidents, including rape threats made against Labour MP Stella Creasy and feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez. A petition for Twitter to install a ‘Report Abuse’ button was launched and currently has over 108,000 signatures.
The Metropolitan Police Service confirmed that they are investigating “allegations relating to bomb threats sent to a number of females on Twitter”. So far no arrests have been made.
