Arrest after Twitter threats against feminist

Caroline Criado-Perez, right, lobbied for Jane Austen banknote. Picture: PA

A MAN has been arrested on suspicion of harassment after a feminist campaigner was barraged with violent sexual Twitter messages.

Caroline Criado-Perez had called for Jane Austen to be introduced on a banknote to ensure women are properly represented. However, she faced a torrent of online abuse, including threats to kill and rape her.

Supporters have called for Twitter to allow easier reporting of abuse. A petition, which now has thousands of signatures, calls on Twitter to add a “report abuse” button on every user’s page.

Yesterday, police said, a man was arrested in connection with the case.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: “A 21-year-old man has been arrested in the Manchester area on suspicion of harassment offences. The arrest is in connection with an allegation of malicious communications received by officers on Thursday.”

Twitter has faced calls to take faster and stronger action against online abuse in the wake of the incident.

More than 30,000 people petitioned it over the Ms Criado-Perez case, calling on Twitter to urgently add a “report abuse” button to its service.

Twitter’s general manager for the UK, Tony Wang, threatened to suspend all accounts found to be in breach of its rules. Ms Criado-Perez started receiving threats to rape and kill her on Twitter after she helped lobby the Bank of England to make 19th century novelist Jane Austen, the new face on the country’s £10 note, to defuse criticism that women were under-represented on the currency.