The BBC have defended their political editor Laura Kuenssberg after she was accused of maliciously sharing the details of a father who confronted Boris Johnson.
There were calls for the journalist to be sacked by social media users after she shared a post by Omar Salem while highlighting he was the Labour activist who had confronted the Prime Minister.
Many condemned her decision by Kuenssberg to share the information and link to his account, suggesting it could result in the “direct harassment” of Mr Salem with #SackKuenssberg trending on Twitter after her post.
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This is him here https://t.co/77Hqqo9Avz
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) September 18, 2019
Salem confronted Boris Johnson during a visit to Whipps Cross University Hospital in east London.
Mr Salem, whose young daughter was being treated there, told Mr Johnson: “The NHS has been destroyed... and now you come here for a press opportunity.”
Following the growing calls on social media, the BBC News Press Team released a statement dismissing any suggestion of “malicious intent”.
The statement read: “Laura is a journalist who uses social media as part of her job.
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“Like many others, Laura quote tweeted a thread by Omar Salem, who has written himself about his encounter with the PM on social media and describes himself as an activist.
@bbclaurak is doing her job without fear or favour, which is a vital part of democracy.
— Omar Salem (@OmarSalem) September 19, 2019
I don’t think “Labour activist cares about NHS” is a huge scoop though... https://t.co/GiSeSmzZ7m
“Any suggestion there was malicious intent behind her tweets are absurd.”
Despite calls for the political editor to be removed from her post, many have taken to social media to defend her.
Omar Salem said Laura Kuenssberg was doing her job “without fear or favour”, after a Twitter storm in which she was condemned for potentially opening him up to abuse online over the incident.
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