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Debate Should Twitter do more to protect its users from trolls?

While calling out abusive trolls, author and feminist Lindy West said the real reason she’s leaving Twitter is because Twitter itself refused to do anything substantial to protect its users.

Lindy West announced her departure from Twitter in a Guardian column this week, writing, “It is unusable for anyone but trolls, robots and dictators.” But West’s breaking point wasn’t the actual online bullies, it was Twitter’s refusal to stop them.

The white supremacist, anti-feminist, isolationist, transphobic ‘alt-right’ movement has been beta-testing its propaganda and intimidation machine on marginalised Twitter communities for years now – how much hate speech will bystanders ignore? When will Twitter intervene and start protecting its users?” she wrote.

But should Twitter do more to censor abuse on the platform? We ask two commentators to tell us their views.

YES. Tara Flynn is an actress, comedian and writer

I joined Twitter back in 2009. It was all fields then; pastures full of hope, jokes grazing happily beside streams of information and potential.

I got to read stuff I mightn’t have stumbled across otherwise. I got to interact with people I might not have met under ordinary circumstances and established friendships that spilled into real life. It was fun.

Even in those early days, I had guidelines. No Twitter “debates”: the 140 character limit and public nature of it meant any nuance got lost. Pointless. And trolls? I mainly ignored trolls. For one thing, my follower count was low so I wasn’t getting many. I’d just block.

I used to reason that if you opened a door to even the most beautiful view a few slugs could get in. A few slugs were worth a great view, right? But what if the owner of the garden decided not to keep on top of the slugs? What if, when you opened the door, the view was obscured by the slimy feckers? That’s kind of how Twitter seems right now.

This week, Lindy West, one of my favourite troll-slayers, left Twitter. I hope she’ll be back, but I understand why she left. A comedy writer and feminist, founder of the #shoutyourabortion tag, and someone who stands up to fascism, she has been trolled unmercifully for years. In her excellent book Shrill, she recounts meeting the man who set up an account as her dead dad. It’s as enlightening as it is shocking.

West was expert at what she called “feeding the trolls til they explode”. When you are deluged with abuse (if you’re a woman, person of colour, or have a high follower count, you’re far more likely to be) you can’t just ignore it.

You block; they set up new accounts. Don’t engage? Silencing. It keeps coming. Quietly taking punches alone wears you down. So, I’ve decided to take a leaf out of her book.

I recently left Twitter for a few weeks. People said “That’s letting them win!” But leaving felt like power to me. You could pre-script a lot of the abuse – bless them, they’re pretty repetitive – and why stay where the banter’s boring?

But I missed my Twitter pals. I came back. I’m still assessing whether fun outweighs slugs but this time, without reservation, I share abuse. I shame, reply, ignore – whatever I feel like doing in the moment someone tweets it at me.

“Don’t give them oxygen. Block and report.” The people who say this mean well, but are never in the demographic for repeated, personal, gendered or racist abuse. They don’t understand. They’ve not sent numerous reports to Twitter, for what is clearly threatening language, and got the stock “this does not violate our terms” reply. You’re on your own, kid.

It seems there are no repercussions from the platform, no one reading the reports, unless they make the press. They say they’re making progress in tackling abuse and that may be your experience, but based on my own, I’m not convinced regular users matter to Twitter – especially now they’re set to be a presidential mouthpiece. Though, frankly, it almost seems unfair to single Twitter out when mainstream outlets are currently platforming “hilarious” racism and misogyny.

Basically, if your beloved local starts holding Hitler Youth meetings and Grab Women By The Pussy nights, you’re entitled to ask them not to. If they still want to hold them, fine. But they better know you’re looking for another pub. There are always pastures new.

NO. Lorraine Courtney is a journalist and very reluctant Tweeter.

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Sadly it’s kind of inevitable that when you create something like Twitter, however good your intentions, there are going to be some sad little people out there ready to subvert your good intentions and find a way to throw a spanner in the works.

This doesn’t mean that we should blame the platforms themselves necessarily. On a smaller scale, it’s just an every day proof that there is a lot of bad people lurking in our world. I wish there wasn’t but then I turn on the news and see their actions.

Lots of people, even those on the far left, would argue that even hateful speech deserves the opportunity to have a platform when others have the choice not to listen. Although Twitter’s definition of what constitutes one user’s abuse of another on its service is famously airy fairy, and its crude block and mute tools still put the onus on individuals to ensure their own experience, us users do generally have some control over what we are exposed to.

I know Twitter has a trolling problem, but apart from making humans not nasty, or altering the privacy settings on Twitter and removing the heart of what makes it unique and useful, it’s hard to know how to fight it.

Ultimately all of these sites have their dark sides, because they reflect the kind of people we are. Self-obsessed, cynical, restless. Occasionally brilliant and occasionally evil. You see it’s like Andy Warhol’s prediction coming true and now everyone can have a self-important opinion for 15 minutes.

I’m a journalist. I’m published online and people call me out on stuff all the time. Sometimes it’s deliberately hurtful; sometimes it makes sense. Occasionally it even changes my mind.

But Twitter, just like the Internet itself, can never and should never be policed in any meaningful way. Social media reveals to us base impulses, impulses that are sometimes ugly and aggressive. But unfortunately it’s only channeling what is already out there in the real world.

What do you think? Is Twitter too soft on online bullies and trolls? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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84 Comments
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    Mute HearMeNow33
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    Dec 17th 2020, 2:22 PM

    Let it go….

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    Mute Tommy Berry
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    Dec 17th 2020, 2:29 PM

    @HearMeNow33: Are you mad? This will be wall to wall, for a few weeks.

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    Mute Seán Óg
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    Dec 17th 2020, 3:09 PM

    @Tommy Berry: True. Can’t let a chance of some shinner bashing pass them by.

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    Mute Denis Logan
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    Dec 17th 2020, 4:05 PM

    @Seán Óg: says the shinnerbot

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    Mute Seán Óg
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    Dec 17th 2020, 5:54 PM

    @Denis Logan: How predictable of you.

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    Mute tirnanog1979
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    Dec 17th 2020, 2:55 PM

    When is the Gardaí report on Charlie Flanagan potential Covid-19 breaches at Colm Horkan funeral

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    Mute Jane
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    Dec 17th 2020, 3:06 PM

    @tirnanog1979: no comparison and you know it

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    Mute Seán Óg
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    Dec 17th 2020, 3:10 PM

    @Jane: Both funerals broke the regulations Jane and you know it.

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    Mute GrumpyAulFella
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    Dec 17th 2020, 3:17 PM

    @tirnanog1979: that would be Detective Garda Colm Horkan.

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    Mute Jane
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    Dec 17th 2020, 3:18 PM

    @Seán Óg: SF could have sent representatives to Mr Storeys funeral as happened with Garda Horkans funeral and I don’t think anyone could have complained. Instead SF attended the funeral en masse, traveling from all over the country to do so and gathered in a graveyard to give a graveside oration where no burial was taking place.

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    Mute MickN
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    Dec 17th 2020, 3:29 PM

    @Jane: Nonsense, they were as bad as each other

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    Mute Seán Óg
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    Dec 17th 2020, 3:44 PM

    @Jane: Both funerals had large crowds and poor social distancing. If you admonish SF for the Storey funeral then surely you must do the same for Garda Horkan’s funeral. Your disliking of SF seems to be clouding your judgement Jane.

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    Mute Jane
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    Dec 17th 2020, 4:05 PM

    @Seán Óg: but only one was attending in very large numbers by political party reps from all over the country. That’s the difference.
    Why is it even when SF are obviously wrong no criticism is allowed?
    Why do ye want to replace a crowd that dodge questions with another crowd that dodge questions?

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    Mute Angela McCarthy
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    Dec 17th 2020, 5:06 PM

    @Jane: Critism is allowed Jane, but the obvious point you insist on ignoring, is that critism is selective and hypocritical. As was pointed out, you cant criticise one and not the other – but in your case, you did just that.

    To me, both were wrong. It would seem, that to you, there is only political captital to be made from criticising one.

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    Mute John Mc Donagh
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    Dec 17th 2020, 5:44 PM

    @tirnanog1979: It ill behooves Shinners to comment on any Garda’s funeral —–They were responsible for quite a few in their time and indeed have been known to give rapturous acclaim to certain Garda’s murderers.

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    Mute Jane
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    Dec 17th 2020, 7:43 PM

    @Angela McCarthy: and you are ignoring the involvement of a political party in only one of the funerals. A political party that was involved in the making of the rules for everyone else in that jurisdiction.

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    Mute Angela McCarthy
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    Dec 17th 2020, 7:59 PM

    @Jane: A political party? dont you mean political parties, as more than one seems to be set on debating it. but not the other.

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    Mute Jane
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    Dec 17th 2020, 8:20 PM

    @Angela McCarthy: not sure what you mean by that Angela. Only one party is in bother over it because only one party attended en masse. Bringing a crowd to the graveyard unnecessarily was just ridiculous.
    Everyone understands that Bobby Storey was an important figure in SF and as such no one would have batted an eyelid if some of the senior politicians in SF had attended as was done with Garda Horkans funeral.

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    Mute Seán Óg
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    Dec 17th 2020, 9:02 PM

    @Jane: Where did I say no criticism is allowed? People attending both funerals broke government guidelines. So don’t cherry pick your outrage Jane. Call a spade a spade.

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    Mute Jane
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    Dec 17th 2020, 9:24 PM

    @Seán Óg: tell you what Sean you just continue to ignore what are the obvious differences between them as I’ve pointed out above. And continue to be outraged at all and any criticism leveled at SF.

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    Mute Seán Óg
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    Dec 17th 2020, 9:29 PM

    @Jane: I have criticised SF over the attendance of Bobby’s funeral. Because it was wrong to stage a funeral with those numbers in attendance. But you ignore the fact that large numbers attended the Garda’s funeral, including some politicians. Same rules for everyone Jane.

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    Mute Ger Murray
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    Dec 17th 2020, 2:30 PM

    One rule for that crowd, Sur they are the “law” 8 cremations the same day and no one allowed .

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    Mute Airwave81
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    Dec 17th 2020, 2:34 PM

    @Ger Murray: who’s that crowd ?.

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    Mute Tim
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    Dec 17th 2020, 5:37 PM

    @Airwave81: The uniformed woman and men that lined the streets

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    Mute Jimmy Mac
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    Dec 17th 2020, 4:54 PM

    Clear the decks, Nolan show can’t wait to ramp up the whole funeral again, rest in peace Big Bobby, a giant among men.

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    Mute frank_1916
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    Dec 17th 2020, 5:25 PM

    now could they start investigating collusion with he uvf

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    Mute Brian D'Arcy
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    Dec 17th 2020, 7:37 PM

    The usual crowd talking about people in uniforms blah, blah, blah. What I saw were people in ordinary clothes coming out to see a true republican being laid yo rest, with a quarter of a million watching online which Sinn Féin Féin set up. The PSNI have already stated that there were no problems with it. Establishmemt supporters again trying to take away from their parties failure. No bank bailout? Ha ha

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    Mute Pat Andrews
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    Dec 17th 2020, 5:57 PM

    Just ticking a box… Nothing will happen

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