The X Factor judge Tulisa is no stranger to suffering the warped messages of ‘haters’ on Twitter, but, just like a number of other celebrities, including Ed Sheeran and Imogen Thomas to name but two, yesterday, she was threatened by a ‘troll’ who said he was going to “petrol bomb” her house.

The unnamed Twitter user reportedly posted the vile threat after disagreeing with something Tulisa expressed an opinion on.

Having seen the debacle playing out, footballer Rio Ferdinand messaged Tulisa to warn her to be careful about what she posts on the social networking site.

Rio has of course recently been fined a whopping £45,000 by the FA for something he said on Twitter – I’ve no clue what it was; have you? – and in his cautionary tweet, he said, “Calm down, don’t get all heated and speak ya mind on here… you’ll pay for it…”

But what sort of a ridiculous situation is it when people – celebrity or not – have to be fearful of voicing an opinion?

As far as I’m aware, we still live in a democracy, and if the price of committing your thoughts on a subject online is vile threats, then the law needs to change, and fast, to stop internet trolls ruling the virtual roost.

It’s on one hand unfortunate in some regards that Twitter offers unprecedented access to celebrities, given the unique nature of how the site works, but for people who don’t abuse it, or said celebs, it’s an invaluable tool.

Have you ever suffered abuse online and as a result, have closed your account?