Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is right to speak out against those of the belief that social media trolls should simply be ignored suggests Matthew Steeples
As someone subject to daily abuse on social media at the hands of mostly deranged, aged right-wing trolls, I was truly impressed that the author J.K. Rowling took to Twitter this week to speak out against those of the belief that “it is best simply to ignore them.”
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“I’m tired of this ‘don’t feed the troll’ advice,” remarked Rowling in one tweet. She continued: “Ignoring racist abuse leaves targets feeling isolated and unsupported. Hate loves silence, which it takes for consent” before adding: “|The overwhelming majority of people whose focus is ‘what the troll wants’ have never personally experienced abuse or threats. How about we focus on what the victims want? My experience is that most of them would really like the rest of us not to look the other way.”
Ms. Rowling is entirely right. After my involvement in a case that ultimately resulted in the jailing of the racist bigot Viscount St Davids last summer, I have since been targeted by a number of his supporters. These dangerous oddities have posted up to fifty offensive messages about me per day, harassed those close to me publicly and made threats to my person also. I will, like J.K. Rowling, not remain silent and I urge others facing such vile abuse to follow our lead.
Follow The Steeple Times on Twitter at @SteepleTimes and Matthew Steeples at @M_Steeples.
Readers have their say
9 comments
Both you Steeples and Rowling need to get over your patheticness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Trolls are best ignored!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Locking them up is just a waste of resources and though that Viscount is just a Grade A nut clusterf**k, it was not right to send him to the clinketey clink!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rod is wrong but hey Rod is always on the wrong side isn’t he?
I have witnessed what you have put up with Matthew and it is time that these lunatics stopped. I see the main one has moved on to supporting Michelle Young now – another fruitcake. Birds of a feather flock together.
Wait for it..
Yet again, Steeples attacks a peer of the realm and his superior. He should have been jailed himself and Viscount St Davids left with his loving family. The waste of sending this decent man to prison for the sake of appeasing Steeples and Gina Miller makes me so angry. They should be sent to The Tower — the both of them.
What is wrong with you Stacey? You are like a bloody broken record. Get back in your box.
And I rest my case..
Funnily enough, this week I unfollowed her on Twitter. I used to have a lot of time for her – and, yes, I did enjoy the Potter series.
However, I’ve since seen a really nasty side to her. 90% of her feed now seems to consist of attacking people left, right and centre.
Of course, I accept that she is entitled to her opinion, but quite a lot of what she tweets comes across as poisonous and unwarranted.
I am no fan of President Trump, but she wrongly accused him of snubbing a disabled boy a few months back. Then when it was pointed out to her that she was incorrect, she eventually (after a lot of public pressure) deleted her tweets, but refused to apologise for this smear.
She also has a real vendetta against Jeremy Corbyn. Now, there are plenty of issues I disagree with Corbyn on, but she actually retweeted an attack on him, stating he was unfit to lead because he was against war and thought that NATO was corrupt (which it is).
And finally, most of this week, she spent time attacking people who disagreed with her definition of antisemitism. One person immediately got accused of being antisemitic for simply saying (correctly) that “Judaism is a religion and not a race”.
As I say, she really has shown an unpleasant side – and I know she has alienated a lot of other people who liked her in the past. Disappointing.
If the stiple times is looking for riters let me now. i can rit about al sorts of stuf. I dont lik footbal or politics but i can rite about almost anything elseexcept kakes.