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Trending: And the 'think before you tweet' award goes to Tory MP Aidan Burley

Robert Meakin
Sunday 29 July 2012 21:38 BST
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It would have been nothing short of remarkable if the Olympic opening ceremony had not prompted a rush of blood to the head among at least some of the nation's high-profile tweeters on the night.

For while we live in a time where the inane online pronouncements of an A- to D-list celebrity, idiotic footballer, or hapless politician consistently make the headlines, this modern breed of media cannon fodder seem incapable, indeed unwilling, to embrace the safety first principle of Think Before You Tweet.

Special mention goes to Aidan Burley, pictured, the Conservative MP for Cannock Chase who announced on Twitter he was tiring of this "leftie, multicultural crap" hogging the airwaves.

When met with inevitable waves of hate, Burley sought to clarify that he wasn't a daft racist, but was in fact "talking about the way it was handled in the show, not multiculturalism itself.".

The Only Way Is Essex star Maria Fowler, meanwhile, is calling for a crackdown on internet bullies, having faced a backlash after innocently tweeting that Muhammad Ali should have been polite enough to stand throughout the ceremony. It's since had to be explained to Maria that the great man hasn't been fighting fit for some time.

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