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I came across this article {Please see link below} and found it very disturbing, if not surprising. .. It is a BBC news article titled “I get abuse and threats online ~ Why can’t it be stopped?” It is written by Marianna Spring, a {specialized} disinformation reporter. In it she details disturbingly prevalent, malevolent, violent, and misogynistic online abuse and threats from numerous sources targeting particularly women {including herself} ~ especially of colour or LGBTQ+ ~ who hold public positions. . {Men are victims of this too, but women disproportionately so ~ approximately twice as often}

In her own case, Spring says it is because she writes articles against fake news and conspiracies. .. However, she also finds this to be a disturbingly consistent and perverse PATTERN throughout social media {especially Facebook}. .. Spring has researched this appalling behaviour, by such methods as creating alias accounts {i.e., on FB}. .. In doing so, she has found that despite Facebook’s claim to the contrary ~ the accounts of these sick people are usually NOT removed {reportedly 97% are not}~ and in fact, FB seems to identify these accounts and send similar misogynistic content specifically catering to these hate mongers ~ contradicting claims from FB {as well as other media giants such as Instagram, and YouTube} that they take such abuse seriously and take action against such accounts.

Of course, with such shocking and abusive threats comes the danger of actual physical violence. In a study of 800 women conducted by Unesco, cultural agency of the United Nations, 20% said they had already experienced real life stalking or physical attacks.
Furthermore, Spring states that reporting these threats to the police did nothing in terms of any investigation of, or protection from, such appalling and abusive threats. Indeed, after 4 months of getting the runaround, Spring said the police had made virtually no progress on her case, and also had very little victim support at all. ..

The prevalence of this appallingly perverse behaviour and mentality is what constitutes “rape culture” ~ cultures wherein men are socialized to think that this kind of sickness is acceptable to perpetrate, and women are socialized to accept it. .. But this terrible perversity creates and reinforces huge gender inequalities and promotes violence against women ~ especially women of colour, and/ or who are LGBTQ+. ..

At the end of her article, Spring and others make suggestions for social media reform. .. And without doubt, this is an issue we must all be aware of, and vigilant against ~ lest our societies backtrack even further in terms of basic equal human rights. ..

Read Full Article Here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-58924168