Mar 21, 2018

Female politicians speak out over Twitter abuse

Scotland's three most prominent female politicians have backed calls for Twitter to clamp down on online abuse against women. It includes a report, compiled from interviews with more than 80 women, which details the shocking nature of violence and abuse they are receiving on Twitter, including death threats, rape threats and racist, transphobic and homophobic abuse. People who are not in the public eye also experience abuse, especially if they speak out about issues such as sexism and use campaign hashtags. The charity's Scottish director, Kate Nevens, said Twitter had originally been a "Vital source of news" but had now descended into a place where women receive threats of rape, extreme violence, and even death as well as abuse related to their gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. "In the last year, we have seen a wave of online solidarity and activism from women and men around the world - much of it powered by social media platforms such as Twitter but the impact of the #MeToo or #TimesUp movements will be limited if women fear speaking out in the wake of abuse."

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