More than 180,000 abusive tweets sent to MPs in just three months

More than 180,000 abusive tweets were sent to MPs in the space of just three months, a new analysis has revealed.

The day of the EU referendum in June last year saw the highest number of abusive tweets sent to politicians with a mammoth 7,000 sent to MPs in just 24 hours.

The new data analysis comes from an independent think tank Demos and BCS Chartered Institute for IT which studied the amount of abuse sent to politicians over three months.

One out of every 20 tweets sent to MPs were abusive with the most insulting tweets sent on the day of the EU referendum.

The most victimised politicians saw 10 per cent of all tweets sent to them carrying abusive messages.

Around 86 per cent of all politicians are on Twitter, with MPs using the site to announce new policies as well gauge public opinion.

According to the BCS Chartered Institute for IT – which states its aim as making IT “good for society” – online abuse often peaks during high media attention around certain events or topics.

BCS says one reason why this happens is that people can use Twitter anonymously and feel free from repercussions.

David Evans, director of policy and community at BCS, said: “We are now at a critical time in the development of UK politics, and it requires new approaches.”

He said following the General Election on June 8 the organisation hopes to run talks between tech companies and politicians to combat Twitter abuse.