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Police arrest man who threatened female MP and campaigner on Twitter

A twitter logo is seen on a cell phone screen in Tehran, Iran on June 23, 2009. (UPI Photo)
A twitter logo is seen on a cell phone screen in Tehran, Iran on June 23, 2009. (UPI Photo) | License Photo

BRISTOL, England, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Police said they arrested a third man Wednesday who allegedly sent threatening Twitter messages to a female member of parliament and a campaigner.

A 32-year-old man, whose name is not being released, was arrested Wednesday in Bristol on suspicion of committing an offense under the Protection of Harassment Act, police said.

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The man's alleged threats were sent to parliamentarian Stella Creasy and campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez, The Guardian reported.

The messages were sent after Criado-Perez's successful campaign to improve the representation of women on banknotes.

After the Bank of England announced that Jane Austen would appear on banknotes in 2017, Criado-Perez and her supporters, including Creasy, received offensive messages on Twitter threatening them with rape and murder.

Twitter said it plans to make reporting abuse easier by bringing a "report abuse" button that is already available on the iPhone app version to other phone apps and the web version.

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