It doesn't matter what I, as an individual, think. I do agree it's being used to attack the opposition but at the end of the day it doesn't matter.
As soon as it can be construed in an offensive manner and linked back to his employer then that's how its going to go. You've got to be very careful what is publicly linked to your name, and through that to your employer's name.
He can't argue he was unaware of the connotations of having a rat emoji on an Israeli spokesperson and he should have known better than to publicly associate himself, and therefore the BBC, with that content even if he agreed with the message in private.
There is no "Free Speech" as far as your employers are often concerned. If you can be connected to them, which Lineker as a public face of the company can, then anything you post or say can be associated to the employer.
As a 64 year old I understand this concept is harder to come to terms with but younger people have grown up knowing anything they post can get tagged back against them now or in the future.
