Owen Jones quits social media after torture and death threats

Out Guardian journalist Owen Jones has quit social media, after threats of torture and murder.

Left-wing commentator and Guardian journalist Owen Jones has quit social media following death threats. He told his 252,000 followers on Facebook that he taking time away from social media except to post articles, videos and events. Owen Jones was instrumental in bringing the anti-Trump protests to London earlier in the year.

He told his fans,

“I find myself constantly engaging with people denouncing my motives while sending abuse. And my friends ask: What are you doing? Why are you wasting your life on this nonsense? And they’re just right.

“Added with the usual far-right extremists sending ever more creative descriptions of how they’re going to torture and murder me, I’m no longer convinced social media is as useful a tool for political debate and discussion as it once was.”

Owen revealed that his harshest critics were “frothing keyboard warriors” and that he didn’t think that social media was a “useful a tool for political debate”.

It hasn’t been revealed whether Owen has reported threats to the police.