A student has been expelled from his university after he called his girlfriend a “psycho b***h” on Twitter – even though he didn’t name her, she didn’t see it, his account was private, and he was off-campus over the summer.

Lawyers at the University of Kansas (KU) argued that Navid Yeasin created a “hostile environment” for is ex on-campus which made his actions a violation under the federal law known as Title IX.

Under the law, US citizens are prohibited to discriminate on the basis of sex in any federally-funded education program or activity.

However, a Kansas Court of Appeals heard how Mr Yeasin was only expelled when he apparently broke a university rule not to contact the young woman after the collapse of their relationship, which court documents say was ‘tumultuous and, at times, toxic’, according to Kansas City TV.

Leaders at the university said they warned Mr Yeasin against harassing the woman – including all social media references – which came after a series of incidents which included the former student allegedly detaining the woman in a car.

When he took to Twitter to write disparaging messages that apparently targeted her, Mr Yeasin was, again, warned – but he continued on, the institution said.

Although Mr Yeasin acknowledged the car incident along with the tweets – which included “#psycho” – he argued that neither had occurred on university property and that the institution had violated his right to free speech.

Kansas State University and free-speech groups have since waded-in on the debate as the case continues to garner attention from throughout the state. The groups have argued KU should not have resorted to expelling Mr Yeasin because his comments were made while he was off-campus.