There is a whiff of great irony over Alan Jones accusing those calling for advertisers to abandon his radio show of cyber-bullying.
The man who has often hung his polarising, sometimes vitriolic and at times, factually dubious opinions off the hook of 'free speech' seems incredibly reluctant to allow others to do the same.
But you only have to look at some of the language being used to criticise the veteran broadcaster to wonder if he might have a point.
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Speaking on his 2GB radio show this morning, Jones claimed management at the station made a decision to suspend advertising after a “sustained and hateful” campaign against people working for those advertisers.
“The decision [to abandon advertising] has one purpose and one purpose alone: to give innocent, hard-working people employing advertisers a break from cyber-terrorism. A break from bullying, a break from harassment.”
Fellow 2GB host Chris Smith added to those calls by saying Jones himself had been targeted by cyber-bullies, reading one particularly nasty comment to listeners: “Someone should glass the ****. He has a face like a rapist.”
According to Smith, the station has received some 7,000 similar messages.
Elsewhere, more than 110,000 Australians have signed a petition calling for 2GB and advertisers to cease association with the veteran broadcaster.
Another 20,000 have added their support to Facebook campaigns calling to 'Sack Alan Jones' and to 'Destroy the Joint', a reference to another now infamous comment made by Alan Jones about Julia Gillard and other female politicians.
But there are concerns that some protesters are detracting from the campaign by resorting to abuse and language like that cited by Jones' colleague Smith.
Jenna Price, spokesperson for the 'Destroy the Joint' campaign, has condemned such attacks, and says it is not what the protest movement wants to achieve.
“It's revolting. It's exactly the kind of thing I'm fighting against.”
“[Destroy the Joint] is about ordinary Australians standing up to someone who has been bullying them for years.”
A post on the 'Sack Alan Jones' Facebook page also addresses cyber-bullying claims, calling them an “insult”.
The post went on to appeal to followers to address the issue peacefully.
“We may reject Mr Jones' decades-long history of bullying and abusive behaviour on the radio, but we cannot - we must not - we will not show any personal anger towards him.”
