Two sentenced to jail time for Twitter abuse of feminist activist

TORONTO – Two UK-based Twitter users have been sentenced to jail time over a storm of offensive tweets sent to a feminist activist in July.

23-year-old Isabella Sorley will serve 12 weeks in prison and 25-year-old John Nimmo will serve eight weeks for “improper use of a communications network,” after sending multiple abuse-laden tweets that included death and rape threats to feminist activist Caroline Criado-Perez.

According to a report by The Guardian, Judge Howard Riddle said it was “hard to imagine more extreme threats.”

In a statement posted to her Twitter account, the activist said she did not attend the sentencing because she felt she couldn’t cope with facing her online tormentors.

“It’s hard to get my thoughts together at the moment as my stomach is churning – hearing the outcome has made me realize how tense and anxious I have been feeling,” she said Friday.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's hard to get my thoughts together at the moment as my stomach is churning - hearing the outcome has made me realize how tense and anxious I have been feeling," she said Friday.

“I didn’t feel sure that the judge would understand how terrifying and scarring the whole experience has been for me, which again is not something I could face. I feel immensely relieved that the judge clearly has understood the severity of the impact this abuse has had on me.”

She added that any damages awarded to her will be donated to charity.

Criado-Perez said she began receiving rape and death threats via Twitter shortly after her successful campaign to get a woman’s picture on a U.K. bank note ended with the announcement that Jane Austen’s image would appear on England’s ten pound notes.

Many other high-profile female users were targeted alongside Criado-Perez – who said the abuse continued for weeks on end.

The Twitter abuse sparked an online debate about Twitter’s rules surrounding abusive language and threats and prompted the social networking giant to adjust its policies and add a “report abuse” button to tweets.

READ MORE: Twitter issues new rules after tweet-threat controversy

Criado-Perez’s case also raised concerns with experts about hate speech on the Internet.

“We have this interesting culture with respect to the Internet which suggests that free speak trumps everything and that it’s always for the greater good,” social media expert Jaigris Hodson told Global News at the time.

READ MORE: Rape threat tweets raise concerns about hate speech on social media

“There are those who argue that we need to accept everything because its free speech, but then there are people like myself and Caroline who say no – we don’t have to accept things that are libelous, illegal, or threatening. That’s not why free speech was set up,” said Hodson.

Criado-Perez continued to receive abusive tweets Friday after tweeting about pro-choice and the outcome of her court case.