The MP’s account @tom_watson sent a message to his 65,000 + followers earlier today saying “I should log out of my twitter so that my intern doesn’t twit-rape me”.
The potentially offensive tweet was quickly shared across the social network by UK users who were surprised by the content. Another message came minutes later saying “My boss is in a meeting, i’ve made a terrible mistake, im very sorry everyone, it wasn’t meant to be offensive! logging him off now! sorry!”
On returning from said meeting Watson sent out a message to reassure his followers that the culprit was a ‘young intern’ who had sent the message from his account “I sincerely apologise for the recent tweet. A lesson learned for a young intern. She’s also very sorry. I will deal with the matter offline.”
The term ‘twit-rape’ refers to other users sending out fraudulent messages when an account is left logged in on a shared access computer – in Facebook the common term is ‘fraped’. The widely used terms have entered the popular lexicon particularly among younger social network users.
Tom Watson’s recent wrangling with News Corporation and the Murdoch’s has brought him new found fame and admiration during the phone hacking scandal, as well as a large increase in Twitter followers.
The hashtag #savetheintern has now become a trending topic from sympathtic Twitter users.
Main image: Getty
