Police
have launched an investigation after a Jewish journalist was subjected to
antisemitic abuse for tweeting that he had read a pro-LGBT story book to his
nieces.
Benjamin
Cohen, CEO of PinkNews, tweeted that he had “been busy reading a lovely gay
inclusive book to my three and one-year-old nieces”. The book was King &
King, which tells the story of a prince who finds a same-sex partner.
His
message prompted a string of antisemitic comments from Twitter users.
One
tweet read: “If all Jews would go gay and lesbian we’d all be happy. Would save
on our gas bill later.” Another tweeter wrote: “This is why your people
get Shoah’d”.
Other
comments accused Mr Cohen of “sexual perversion” and “paedophilia”
for reading the book to his nieces, with one follower tweeting: “You should be
arrested for child abuse”.
Mr
Cohen said he had never before experienced abuse on such a scale, adding that
it was an example of the problem of hate speech on social media.
According
to PinkNews, he said: “Although I’ve occasionally received homophobic and
antisemitic tweets before, it has never been on the scale that I have received
in the past 24 hours.
“What
shocks me the most is not that people are so homophobic or antisemitic but
rather that the tweets to me were written by people whose Twitter timelines are
filled with similar vile attacks to other people.
“This
clearly illustrates the huge problem that Twitter has in dealing with and
policing hate speech.”
The
Metropolitan Police are currently investigating the tweets.
