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The gaming giant Nintendo has dramatically fired a feminist "social justice warrior" whose controversial views on paedophile pornography sparked a firestorm of criticism.

Campaigners called for Alison Rapp to be sacked after it emerged she had published a highly controversial academic essay questioning whether it was morally correct to censor child pornography.

However, whilst it might appear as if Nintendo has bowed to these demands, it has emerged that the former product specialist was actually given the heave ho because she was working a second job.

In a tweet, Rapp admitted she was "no longer a good, safe representative of Nintendo".

She professed to have been the victim of a campaign of harassment and made the astonishing claim that her family met with police "to talk safety measures [and] warn them of possible suspicious activity".

In a statement , the Japanese firm said she was "terminated due to violation of an internal company policy involving holding a second job in conflict with Nintendo’s corporate culture".

“Though Ms. Rapp’s termination follows her being the subject of criticism from certain groups via social media several weeks ago, the two are absolutely not related," Nintendo added.

In 2012, Rapp published a paper discussing child pornography in Japan, which has come under international pressure to tighten its laws on the depiction of underage sex.

The self-professed feminist, who is heavily tattooed and wears a ring through her nose, provoked the anger of members of the GamerGate group, which is opposed to politically correct interference in the video games industry.

They then dug up her thesis, which was called: "Speech We Hate: An Argument for the Cessation of International Pressure on Japan to Strengthen Its Anti-Child Pornography Laws."

The full paper can be read here .

Rapp has now taken to Twitter to share her views on her sacking and the wider issue of feminism and video games.

She has not issued an apology for the thesis, which she has openly referred to in the online CV on her LinkedIn page.

In her long essay, Rapp described people who possess child pornography as "simple possessors" or "mere possessors", even though this is a serious crime.

Her thesis jumps between discussing child pornography featuring "real children" and fictionalised depictions of sickening acts, meaning it often appears unclear what she is actually discussing.

However, the content of the essay has provoked a furious response among many of the people who have read it.

Rapp wrote: "Criminalising the the possession of a type of media - whether violent video games... controversial political or religious texts, or child pornography - is tantamount to criminalising thought, and should be above countries like the U.S. and Japan who have such strong freedom of speech protections."

Rapp also claimed there was only "sketchy correlations between child pornography and the actual abuse of children".

On Twitter last night, Rapp warned future employers she was "extremely radical".

She also claimed Nintendo asked her to reel in her feminist rhetoric and alleged the firm told her to stop tweeting about "rape culture" because "it could become a big story".

Rapp also claimed she was "consistently made to worry that getting another tattoo or piercing would mean they’d pull me from public appearances".

The fired feminist slammed her GamerGate enemies and said their "obsession" with her was "not normal".