Hipgrave’s social media woes

Hipgrave’s only crime was to have a view on Lionel Messi’s penalty last Sunday, just one of several hundred thousand tweets after he rolled the ball into the path of Luis Suarez at the Nou Camp. 

What followed was an alarming wave of sexist abuse, much of it so improper that Hipgrave decided to retweet some of the messages. One tasteless individual made an obscene observation before concluding ‘this is why we don’t hire females unless we need our food cooked’. 

Although unaware that it would become one of the week’s major talking points, there is no reason she should regret bringing it to public attention. Instead, it is for Twitter to put appropriate controls in place.