Stories of celebrities suffering abuse and harassment on Twitter are a constant feature in today’s news. Footballers and rugby players are ritually abused if their teams lose. Politicians and journalists are abused for doing their jobs – and that abuse is far worse for women. Even Captain Sir Tom Moore was subjected to a torrent of abuse on Twitter.
This abuse has led many high-profile celebrities to quit social media altogether, most notably Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. And Twitter has been singled out as a particularly uncivil social media platform, where abuse and harassment are common.