Carnegie Mellon professor under fire for tweets about Queen Elizabeth’s death

PITTSBURGH — As sentiments are pouring out from around the world after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, a Carnegie Mellon University professor is under fire for a social media post.

Professor Uju Anya posted the following tweet, which has since been removed by Twitter:

“I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.”

Carnegie Mellon responded after receiving backlash, stating:

Anya has since posted an additional tweet, stating:

Anya’s tweets have triggered a large social media response, including a reply from Jeff Bezos.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) sent a letter to Carnegie Mellon Thursday evening calling on the university to “reaffirm its commitment to free expression,” saying in part:

“Twitter deleted Anya’s initial tweet citing a rules violation. But the rule enforced against her is pretty terrible. It says most tweets that wish others harm are not allowed, but some are OK, and Twitter gets to decide. Many people are complaining Twitter enforces its rules arbitrarily. We think so, too. In an age when so many turn to Twitter as the place to publicly express their opinions, we think Twitter should take as light a touch with censorship as possible, ideally looking to First Amendment standards for guidance. This is a great example of speech the First Amendment unquestionably protects, but Twitter has chosen to censor.”

To read the full letter, click here.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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