The tabloid carried a picture of Oscar Pistorius's girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in a pink bikini - the day after she had died in a shooting at the home of the Paralympian, who has been charged with her murder.
Lord John Prescott was among a number of pundits and Twitter users to voice their disapproval of the cover.
@rupertmurdoch A new low for your paper The Sun. Do you really think this is appropriate? twitter.com/neurosceptic/s…
— John Prescott (@johnprescott) February 15, 2013
However, News Corp Chairman and CEO Murdoch took to the microblogging site to defend the paper's decision.
The 81-year-old slammed the "PC hypocrites" who expressed outrage at the photo of Steenkamp and claimed that other publications had used even more pictures of the same ilk.
Here they come.PC hypocrites scream about Sun publishing pic of murder victim in bikini after Huff Post carries 40 of same subject.
— Rupert Murdoch(@rupertmurdoch) February 15, 2013
Pistorius appeared in court in South Africa yesterday to face the accusation of murder. He was seen holding his head in his hands before breaking down in tears while his charge was read out.
Steenkamp's PR agency previously said in a statement that they were "simply devastated" by her passing, adding: "She was the kindest, sweetest human being; an angel on earth and will be sorely missed."
