There was an outpouring of emotion worldwide after Monday night's suicide attack at an Ariana Grande concert that left 22 people dead. Many rallied together with small acts of kindness to show their support, but others appeared to use it as an opportunity to incite hatred against Muslims.
Arsonists target Oldham Islamic Centre hours after Manchester terror attack https://t.co/jn4xMEgpGf
After ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, some high-profile figures including Piers Morgan suggested Muslims could do more to identify extremists – but they quickly received a backlash for the comments.
On Tuesday Morgan told Muslim actor Adil Ray, who stars in the BBC One comedy Citizen Khan, that he should encourage other Muslims to root out extremists. "The Muslim community can and should do more," Morgan said.
One person replied: "Let me just WhatsApp ISIS and tell them to chill out, Piers."
Lemme just whatsapp ISIS and tell them to chill out Piers, one sec https://t.co/qc6DGE3MyE
Others questioned whether Morgan thought all Muslims knew each other.
do they all have each others numbers? group skype call? does aqib who works in finance have telepathy so he can con… https://t.co/EU3jjRalPr
Some people had other questions, like asking Morgan what he was doing to root out white supremacists and extremists.
what are you doing to root out white supremacists? https://t.co/CRrRTmmSa4
what is the white community doing exactly to compact white supremacy and extremism? nothing. you're defending those… https://t.co/nKoZJC8tzE
Others asked why he thought citizens would be better at tracking extremists than security services.
How is this possible Piers? The Police and Mi5 can't root out extremists but me with a full time job is meant to tr… https://t.co/KYaVYhoVLj
How? If the FBI and MI5 struggle to catch extremists but you expect Assad from Alum Rock & his fake Gucci belt to f… https://t.co/aJwH03GSh1
Meanwhile, when a UKIP politician demanded the return of the death penalty after the attacks, journalist Kevin Schofield pointed out that that wouldn't do much to deter a suicide bomber.
Don't think that'll do much to deter a suicide bomber. https://t.co/vHUsoF7Sya
And when someone told Muslim academic and author Qasim Rashid to "take your stupid hijab off and show us you have a brain" after Rashid shared a document showing Muslims condemning terrorism, Twitter wasn't having any of it.
People showed their support to Rashid when he asked for it, giving him over 10,000 retweets.
Retweet if you agree my hat is awesome and that I'm smarter than this guy. https://t.co/sGYk4pzb53
Elsewhere, in a now-deleted tweet, LBC radio host Katie Hopkins called for a "final solution" in response to the Manchester attacks.
Her comment about a "final solution" was compared to Hitler's use of the same phrase. Some people reported her for being abusive, and called on others to do the same.
Just reported @KTHopkins for Vile final solution comment. Please do the same
She was also reported to the police.
Journalist Owen Jones said she should be sacked as a radio host over the tweet, and that people invited on to the station as guests should refuse requests.
LBC depends on guests to function. Until they sack Katie Hopkins we should all boycott all interview requests. Enough is enough.
Fellow LBC host James O'Brien spoke about Hopkins' tweet, calling her "desperate" and "monstrous".
.@mrjamesob responds to @KTHopkins ugly tweet https://t.co/wvJygLc2Hq
When a woman who was caught up in the Manchester attack took to Twitter to give her condolences to the victims and their families, a person replied: "This is what happens when you let muslims in your country."
But people loved her quick response. She said the taxi driver who drove her home to safety was a Muslim, and praised his compassion and bravery.
