Justine Sacco, communication director for InterACtive Corp, which owns websites such as Vimeo, Match.com, and Dictionary.com was fired after posting an insensitive AIDS and racist message on Tweeter, according to Yahoo! News.
Her tweet which read: "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!" led to a build-up of "Justine Sacco Army" almost overnight demanding that the PR executive should face the consequences of her irresponsible and insensitive tweet.
Sacco was fired as a result and later on apologized saying she is "ashamed" for her insensitivity to millions of people who are suffering from AIDS, reported Yahoo! News.
Sacco released a statement saying,
"Words cannot express how sorry I am, and how necessary it is for me to apologize to the people of South Africa, who I have offended due to a needless and careless tweet," she said in a statement. "There is an AIDS crisis taking place in this country, that we read about in America, but do not live with or face on a continuous basis. Unfortunately, it is terribly easy to be cavalier about an epidemic that one has never witnessed firsthand.
"For being insensitive to this crisis -- which does not discriminate by race, gender or sexual orientation, but which terrifies us all uniformly -- and to the millions of people living with the virus, I am ashamed.
"This is my father's country, and I was born here. I cherish my ties to South Africa and my frequent visits, but I am in anguish knowing that my remarks have caused pain to so many people here; my family, friends and fellow South Africans. I am very sorry for the pain I caused."
The controversy took place while Sacco was reportedly in a flight without Internet access. The Internet went abuzz and Netizens started hurling degrading remarks against Sacco. Her Tweeter account used to have a small following, but after her tweet went viral, thousands of people began scouring her Tweeter's public messages - hence, the label 'Justine Sacco Army.'
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