Making Rape Threats on Twitter Lands London Man in Jail

Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London made a landmark decision to jail a Twitter user for making violent and abusive rape threats against Stella Creasy, Labor MP for Walthamstow. The crime is outlined in section 127 of the U.K.’s Communications Act, which prohibits digital messages found to be “grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character.”

The user, Internet blogger Peter Nunn, only sent six messages, but they were found to be persistent and across different accounts, even after his original Twitter handle was blocked.