"When I was a 20-year-old undergraduate student at Cambridge University, I was plastered all over the national press for making a tweet about white people. It has not turned out to be a big deal for my life or career, but at the time it felt monumental: racist hate mail was sent to my college for months; the Conservative MP Bob Blackman called for my prosecution; and tabloid journalists turned up at my home and harassed my mother"
"I received a lot of support from the student population, alumni and the police (and none from the university, bar a few kind academics), but it cast a shadow over the rest of my time there I worried about what future I could have or what employer would hire me if they were to Google my name and see I had attracted scandal. Mostly I wondered why this was national news."
A 20-year-old Cambridge undergraduate attracted intense national attention for a tweet about white people, prompting racist hate mail, a Conservative MP's call for prosecution, and tabloid harassment of the student's mother. The student received support from peers, alumni, and the police but little backing from the university, and experienced ongoing anxiety about future employment due to the scandal. Oxford Union president-elect George Abaraonye faced a similar storm after laughing about the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, posting celebratory messages then apologising while claiming ignorance of the fatality. Public reaction underlines that insensitive jokes and laughter during major tragedies are widespread across social media.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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