Leading virologist Marion Koopmans has called for more action to be taken against people who issue threats through social media, email and messaging.

Koopmans, a member of the Outbreak Management Team, said she was subjected to a ‘conveyor belt’ of online abuse. ‘We shouldn’t think this is normal,’ she told the Radio 1 Journaal. ‘Unfortunately that seems to be the case.’

Koopmans published an email on Twitter that she had received from an anonymous correspondent calling her a ‘filthy monster of Dachau’ and saying ‘ the wrong person got shot in the head in a car park entrance’.

De kerstwensen komen binnen: “Dat jij jouw gore corona rotkop nog op de tv. durft te tonen, jij vuil goor monster van Dachau, jij corrupte zakkenvullende volksverlakker die honderdduizenden zwart betaald krijgt, ze hebben de verkeerde voor de ingang van de (een ) parkeergarage

— Marion Koopmans (@MarionKoopmans) December 13, 2021

‘Why don’t we actually do something about this next year?’ she said in a follow-up tweet copied to the prosecution service. ‘I’m done with it, to be honest.’

Koopmans said she did not know how to stop the hate, but wanted to start a discussion about where to draw the line.

She also said she had considered giving up Twitter, where she is also subjected to regular abuse. ‘But my work doesn’t stop and I think that would be turning the world on its head.’