Caroline Criado-Perez: twitter trolls and narks show us how police bigotry works
DO the police use an even hand when confronting the Twitter mob in full cry? When Caroline Criado-Perez decried the Bank of England decided to replace Elizabeth Fry with Winston Churchill on new £5 notes – this meant no women, save for The Queens, were on bank notes – she and others who campaigned for equality on folding money brought about a change of heart.
The Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, caved in to pressure and announced that Jane Austen is going on the £10 note.
This brought Criado-Perez to attention of the Twitter brains trust, some of whom called for her to be raped and murdered.
Today Scotland Yard said an idiot has been arrested:
“A 21-year-old man has today been arrested in the Manchester area on suspicion of harassment offences. The arrest is in connection with an allegation of malicious communications received by officers in Camden on Thursday, July 25.”
She told Sky News:
“It’s just not acceptable and more than that it’s actually a crime and Twitter needs to take it seriously and the police need to take it seriously.”
Labour’s shadow home secretary and shadow minister for women Yvette Cooper has written to the head of Twitter in the UK. She is “deeply concerned by the handling of serious and violent threats of abuse and rape”:
” … Despite the scale and seriousness of these threats, the official response from Twitter continues to be extremely weak – simply directing Caroline away from Twitter towards the police, and, belatedly, directing users to abuse reporting forms on Twitter.
” … I urge you to go further and ensure that Twitter carries out a full review of all its policies on abusive behaviour, threats and crimes, including more help for Twitter users who experience abuse, a clear complaints process and clear action from Twitter to tackle this kind of persecution.”
But Cooper never did complain when Emma West was targeted. West was the Croydon Tram Lady, the young mother captured on camera belching our racial abuse on public transport. She was wrong; dealt with by the courts. But what of those on twitter who wanted her killed and gang raped? Nothing. The police did not act. You see, West was a bigot. She was also unhinged – an unwell woman. But she said racist things so, it follows that the anti-racist police do nothing to protect her.
Liam Stacey was another pillock who said racist things on Twitter. He was jailed. The tweeters who called for him to be physically hurt and raped were not.
Liam Stacey was sent to prison for 56 days. In sentencing Stacey, district judge John Charles opined:
“At that moment, not just the footballer’s family, not just the footballing world, but the whole world were literally praying for his life. Your comments aggravated this situation.”
A racist tweet could do that. The Beak added:
”I have no choice but to impose an immediate custodial sentence to reflect the public outrage at what you have done.”
Forget the crime and rule of law. Public outrage is the sentencing gage.
Jordan Blackshaw, 20, from Northwich Town, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, of Latchford, Warrington, were sentenced at Chester crown court to four years prison after admitting using Facebook to try to organise riots. No trouble resulted from their call to arms. But the fashion was for the police and justice system to crack down on rioters. So they went to jail. As yet, demanding that Emma West be deported to Africa and murdered is ok.
The panicky post-Stephen Lawrence police will deal with racists. They will deal with an educated woman who can operate an online petition and speak well to the media. But they will not protect an ill, white working class ill woman who says racist things. If you are gong to get the Tweeters to act as police narks and grass up the dickheads who say stupid and ugly things online, you need to get them all. If you don’t it just looks like the police are using these trolls to do their PR. Which they are…
Photo: (Left to right) Mary Macleod, a Conservative member of parliament, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, Stella Creasy, a Labour and Co-operative member of parliament, and Caroline Criado-Perez, co-founder of the Women’s Room, pose for a photograph following the presentation of the concept design for the new Bank of England ten pound banknote, featuring author Jane Austen at the Jane Austen House Museum in Chawton, near Alton. The Austen note will be issued within a year of the Churchill £5 note, which is targeted for issue during 2016.
Posted: 28th, July 2013 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
