Article originally published 28/07/2016: due to a technical issue this article may have resurfaced for some readers, and the original publish date may not have been visible.
A Labour MP has been forced to redouble security at her home after being targeted by online trolls for her criticism of Jeremy Corbyn.
Jess Phillips posted a picture on Twitter of a locksmith spending six hours at her family home, and wrote: “Think about my how my kids feel the next time you mock up a picture of me dying.”
The MP for Birmingham Yardley lives with her husband and two young sons. Phillips, who has been outspoken on a series of issues, has been repeatedly targeted by trolls.
In October, she spoke out about being inundated with online threats to rape and murder her. Many Labour MPs have complained about being subjected to abuse from pro-Corbyn supporters long before the recent ‘coup’ and leadership election. The ‘Reclaim the Internet’ campaign was launched in response to the increasingly uncomfortable environment for political debate on Twitter in particular.
Phillips told HuffPost UK there has been a “ramping up” of abuse. One troll mocked up a picture of a woman with an arrow in her heart and put her face on it. “There’s every day calls for my deselection,” she added. “It’s feral.”
Just over an hour later, she responded to yet more criticism.