Would you support a petition to twitter to help stop "hate" activity?

[Sarah_TN]

Hello, everybody. Whether a fan of Colin O’Donoghue (Hook) or not, many of you may have knowledge of a “hater” who under two different user names, “spammed” Colin with material that was not only harrassment, but was offensive. Much of the content was inappropriate for younger twitter users, and this was hurtful I’m sure to not only Colin, but to his fans as well.

I’m happy to say that after the two pages this user spammed from have finally been taken down. What I am not happy about, is that the hater was allowed to have his/her fun to the expense of everyone else for a good long while before twitter acted on it. Twitter is in my opinion, too slow, and too lenient on abuse.

Regardless of what ship you may represent, one thing stands true, and that is that this impacts all of us. It’s not just Once Upon A Time actors and actresses (and their fans) who have been abused this way. Yes, freedom of speech is important, but even that has it’s limits. Debate and disagreements are one thing. That’s discussion, not abuse. Abuse begins when a twitter user utilizes his/her account for a purpose to do harm by verbal abuse with threats, redicule, harrassment, insults, and offensive material.

It is for this reason why I am “testing the waters” to propose a petition to the executive level at Twitter. If I have the support of fans here (regardless of what ship), I’d like to create a petition asking Twitter to strengthen it’s anti-bullying policies. It would be their idea on how to handle it, but one idea I have would be a 3-strikes, you’re out policy. If a page is suspended for abusive behavior 3 times, on the 3rd time, the ISP (internet service provider) address would be blocked, meaning that the user would no longer be able to create pages for use on twitter. In addition, Twitter would make itself accountable for reacting to bullying complaints more quickly, and more strictly. It took almost a MONTH for this person’s pages (yes, more than 1 page) to be deactivated.

I’m sure Colin O’Donoghue isn’t the only Once actor who these things have been targeted at and after Meghan Ohry ended up having to take her page down, and after the insane and rediculous nonsense fans of Colin (if he didn’t see it, himself) had to put up with the past month, it seems to me that something needs to be done.

If you like this idea, please let me know. If it gets support, I’ll create an online petition we can send to the folks at Twitter. I don’t know if this will do any good, but I think if a lot of us climb onto this, that it will say enough, is enough.

Thanks, everybody!

[obisgirl]

SIGN ME UP!!!

It’s not just Colin, anyone else on the cast who gets this, and even Adam, this behavior seriously needs to stop in general.

Meghan Ory left twitter because of bullying, she deleted all her tweets and closed her account. Her husband did the same thing.

That still burns me because she seems like a really nice, sweet person and I just cannot even fathom why she would be bullied. It’s also such a waste of the hiatus for people to do this.

Like seriously, you can’t just spend your time writing fanfiction, watching fan videos?  Spreading hate is so counter productive. Do something positive with your time that makes you happy.

So yes, absolutely, sign me up!!

[Phee]

The intent behind wanting to get Twitter to pick up their game is an honourable one, but I really don’t think a petition would have any effect. It’s not just a few actors here and there that get abusive tweets, bullying is all over the place on social media. The people who run Twitter are aware of this, and they already have measures in place to deal with these types of situations.

Regarding the specific accounts that have sent hate to people involved in OUAT, I’ve reported several of them for spam at various times. I’m guessing that if a certain account gets a large amount of reports, that grabs the attention of the powers that be and they make it a priority to deal with them. I don’t know if anyone directly reported those particular accounts though, and perhaps if they had, they might have been dealt with more quickly.

This is what the Twitter FAQ says about reporting…

Abusive behavior and violent threats

When reporting abusive behavior on Twitter, please provide the following:

Description of problem, including length of time the abusive behavior has been happening
Tweet URLs (to find the exact link of a Tweet, please review this article)
Tweet text (copy and paste the text of the Tweet into the form)
Your email address

Please note: If you believe you may be in danger, please contact your local law enforcement authority in addition to reporting the content to Twitter so that the situation can also be addressed offline.

To report abusive behavior on Twitter, click here.

For more information about Twitter’s abusive behavior policy, click here.

For more information about reporting abusive behavior on Twitter, click here.

It also says…

Offensive content

Users are allowed to post content, including potentially inflammatory content, provided they do not violate the Twitter Rules and Terms of Service. Twitter does not screen content and does not remove potentially offensive content unless such content is in violation of the Twitter Rules and Terms of Service.

The Rules define Targeted Abuse as…

Targeted Abuse: You may not engage in targeted abuse or harassment. Some of the factors that we take into account when determining what conduct is considered to be targeted abuse or harassment are:

if you are sending messages to a user from multiple accounts;
if the sole purpose of your account is to send abusive messages to others;
if the reported behavior is one-sided or includes threats

So it’s not like they’re not aware that abuse happens, and they do have protocols already in place for dealing with that sort of stuff. All we can really do is report abuse if we see it, and then it’s in their hands to deal with it as they see fit, according to their Rules and Terms of Service. Trying to get them to change how they operate via a petition likely wouldn’t have much of an effect, because I’m sure they already have a whole department dedicated to these things, and they deal with issues at the rate they’re able to. And even if things were changed, the type of people who tweet abuse, are still gonna tweet abuse, and no amount of rules will be able to stamp it out.

[Sarah_TN]

The hater is back. Twitter closed his/her pages, and so now there’s a new one. This is why I asked about a petition. The new address is @killcolinodonog. Please, CS fan, Hook fan, or not, please report this guy and shut this down.

I didn’t get a lot of responses on that petition, but I’ll go ahead and get started on it. It may not get anywhere, but it’s better than doing nothing.

Thanks, everybody.

My tumblr page is http://cs-in-tn.tumblr.com/

[RumplesGirl]

The hater is back. Twitter closed his/her pages, and so now there’s a new one. This is why I asked about a petition. The new address is @killcolinodonog. Please, CS fan, Hook fan, or not, please report this guy and shut this down. I didn’t get a lot of responses on that petition, but I’ll go ahead and get started on it. It may not get anywhere, but it’s better than doing nothing. Thanks, everybody.

I reported him/her/the troll.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Sarah_TN]

Thanks.

 

Here is the petition address: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-twitter-abuse.html

My tumblr page is http://cs-in-tn.tumblr.com/

[Myril]

It’s not the first time the question is discussed of how Twitter reacts, how fast and how decisive to reports of abuse, harrasment, trolling. As example there has been a vivid discussion half a year ago in connection with serious threats against Caroline Criado-Perez and other women. In that context there was a petition to add a report abuse button to tweets – which more or less succeeded because a report button was added, it makes reporting somewhat easier now.

Sarah_TN, I support your intentions, but think you’re ideas need to be reassessed.

I guess you actually mean blocking an IP address and not ISP address, because it is an IP address which identifies a computer (and alike) on the internet. Blocking an IP address though doesn’t help that much, because in many places usually average users don’t have a permanent or static IP address but a dynamic one, they get one of the many an ISP has each time they access Internet; the addresses for one person, the computer or router they have at home or usually use can change. So you might not block the attacker permanently but instead deny some innocent person access the next time they go online and try to visit the page. Not to mention, there are ways to circumvent such blocks by for example using proxy servers or by going into an internet cafe. Unless you’re able to take away a person’s access to any internet capable device and to force everybody to personally identify before being able to access internet such kind of a 3-strikes and block policy fails.

I am not a supporter of forcing everybody to personally identify (via ID card or maybe be better retina or fingerprint scan) before being able to access internet wherever. As I am seeing good reasons to still make it possible for people to access and participate on sites eventually anonymous, despite the downside that it has with trolls and haters and stalkers making use of that as well.

Reporting abuse and harassment sure shouldn’t be a way through bureaucratic hell, but IMO never should be a simple one click solution either. Unfortunately people sometimes misuse possibilities to report people, use it as a tool to harass and bully, it sure happens with the Report for Spam button, so I am okay that Twitter doesn’t instantly shut down an account if reported. It should be checked, and that might take time. And what looks obvious to you is not always legally backed, and companies have to consider that.

Sarah_TN, you talk of a hater, but what I saw on these accounts (well the first two, missed the last one you mentioned) is IMO a troll. The lines are sometimes not clear cut, but trolls want to disrupt, provoke, get a reaction, they don’t care if they harm a person doing so, and they are mostly not personal, even if they troll a single person eventually, it is not actually about the person, they only make it sound like it is. Many use the term troll interchangeably with the term bully, but I think there is a difference, different in that bullies are more personal, eventually attacking individuals as representation for something they despise, but still what they do is as well more about self-comfort, maybe to establish a power positions for themselves, and/or entertaining themselves and others than about the person they attack. Haters are personal and mean it personal and their goal is not (self-) entertainment but discomfort and harm to the person they’re attacking. Think it is important to note that there are different types of attacks, because it means different approaches to deal with them. The old saying, don’t feed a troll, has still its merits.

Whatever we call it, trolling, cyper-bullying, if we see different types or not, more policing is not going to stop it, we need a change of culture.

I agree, what cast and crew (and other persons in public, celebrities in the broad sense) sometimes receive via Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook is not acceptable, some is trolling, some plain hate, other things go from improper to stalker. As well some criticism and discussion should be toned down, some people clearly are overly passionate and rash with judgment and words. Unfortunately I think that cast and crews are left alone to deal with it way too often, that production companies, studios even agents yet don’t see a responsibility to support their stars and people more in handling it. Furthermore: PR people know how to handle other professionals, the media, but if it comes to the possibilities fans and not-fans have by now to address and contact individual actors, writers, producers (to just talk about tv and film business) I think it’s even for good PR people still more improvising on new grounds than knowing how to handle it.

But it’s not just an issue for cast and crews of shows and movies or bands or sport teams, it’s an issue inside the fandom and for the fandoms as much. Fans attacking fans and fans getting attacked by trolls, because being passionate about something makes one interesting for attacks and eventually easy prey. Maybe there is not that much to do about trolls besides not feeding and giving a cold-shoulder, but we have to address bullying and hating inside the fandom.

Don’t want to compare what’s happening in tv show fandoms with the violence and impact of what has happened and is happening in football (aka what in the U.S is called soccer) fandoms, it’s not there yet. European football clubs have fans projects, and UEFA made it by now mandatory for them, to have a fan or supporter liaison, people from the fandom or good contacts to fandom to handle the contact with the club and fans (and eventually police), with some experience and (basic) skills in communication, psychology, sociology, education. But when I recently read up about fan projects and fan liaison in football the thought crossed my mind, that maybe something in that direction is due in other areas like tv show fandoms as well. Addressing and doing something against bullying, cyper-bullying is not just something the social media platforms have some responsibility in (namely at the moment most important Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and Instagram). Maybe it’s time for studios, broadcast and cable companies to think about ways what they can do about it, how they can show responsibility and not just do marketing for their shows. (same goes for music industry, but we’re a tv show fan forum, so keeping it to that here). Maybe there is already something like that and I just haven’t noticed it, then please let me know. The old media PR is not it.

And yes, it’s time for us fans to show responsibility too. I am glad to see there is something happening on this forum (although hadn’t the impression it’s that much of an issue here, thankfully and thanks to moderation). But this forum is just one place. Don’t know how good contacts are so far between different podcasts, forums, fan-site with bigger influence (aka members, number of followers), but maybe should talk about an organized action. No pillory thing, troll or bully name hunting, but a discussion about it and how we can support and help each other?

Sorry, Sarah_TN, I don’t want to discourage you nor your petition, just musing here loud. As said, I support your intention though I don’t support your petition, just looking for other, additional ways to approach the matter. What do you think? What do others think?

¯\_(?????? ?)_/¯

[Sarah_TN]

…Sarah_TN, I support your intentions, but think you’re ideas need to be reassessed….

Thanks for your response and good counsel, Spoekenkieker (and also for the correction regarding an ISP, versus IP address). I think you and Phee, are both probably correct. To be honest, the petition doesn’t seem to be getting much interest. I thought that the petition would have gained more ground than it has, however am pleased that two more abusive page names were quickly removed by twitter yesterday (after several reports, I’m sure).

I thought about what you said, and so am thinking that where fans are concerned, perhaps the best way to go may be for me to try and gather everyone for a “forum” (here) of sorts, to put our heads together and figure out how best to address this issue. I don’t think we should simply sit by and do nothing, and maybe we can come up with something where we can ask for participation regarding this matter from other areas. RG, if you read this, would you be in support of that?

I won’t be able to get to that this week, but sometime this weekend (if I’m not overstepping my boundaries to do so), I’d like to try and get us talking about how we can come together and tackle this issue. If we all put our heads together, maybe we can all come up with something useful.

Thanks, again.

My tumblr page is http://cs-in-tn.tumblr.com/

[RumplesGirl]

I don’t think we should simply sit by and do nothing, and maybe we can come up with something where we can ask for participation regarding this matter from other areas. RG, if you read this, would you be in support of that?

I agree with a lot of what Spoekenkier said, especially that these user in questions aren’t really haters so much as trolls. And when you engage with them, you’re giving them what they want. When I see a troll I report them but never tweet them back, tell them to stop, ect. That seems to be the best course of action.

I think it’s worth nothing that these trolls/haters bother US more than they bother the actors. We get defensive of our cast because we love them. But these guys are professional actors, they’ve seen and heard it all. If they’re bothered by the tweets, they’ll block the user themselves. And I also think a second note is that they probably don’t see them as much as we do. We watch their feeds and their mentions because we’re fans and that’s what we do. The actors themselves receive TONS of tweets an hour, so chances are those trolling and hating tweets just fly by without a glance.

As to what we can do: we can celebrate OUAT instead of getting bogged down in the Trolldom.

Matt and I have come up with “Love Day”: a day of celebration and fun where we will come together as a fandom and play games, share videos, ect. This is to remind ourselves that we’re all fans, despite different opinions in shipping and character. You can read more about it HERE

We encourage all to participate or at least drop by for awhile and share a fun pretty thing!

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Sarah_TN]

Sarah_TN wrote:

I don’t think we should simply sit by and do nothing, and maybe we can come up with something where we can ask for participation regarding this matter from other areas. RG, if you read this, would you be in support of that?

I agree with a lot of what Spoekenkier said, especially that these user in questions aren’t really haters so much as trolls. And when you engage with them, you’re giving them what they want. When I see a troll I report them but never tweet them back, tell them to stop, ect. That seems to be the best course of action.

I think it’s worth nothing that these trolls/haters bother US more than they bother the actors. We get defensive of our cast because we love them. But these guys are professional actors, they’ve seen and heard it all. If they’re bothered by the tweets, they’ll block the user themselves. And I also think a second note is that they probably don’t see them as much as we do. We watch their feeds and their mentions because we’re fans and that’s what we do. The actors themselves receive TONS of tweets an hour, so chances are those trolling and hating tweets just fly by without a glance.

As to what we can do: we can celebrate OUAT instead of getting bogged down in the Trolldom.

Matt and I have come up with “Love Day”: a day of celebration and fun where we will come together as a fandom and play games, share videos, ect. This is to remind ourselves that we’re all fans, despite different opinions in shipping and character. You can read more about it HERE

We encourage all to participate or at least drop by for awhile and share a fun pretty thing!

Sounds good. I just hate that we can’t do anything to eradicate the “trolldom”, rather than just chase it. Still the same, I think you are all correct. I guess the petition and me wanting to do something about this, is more a product of me just being mad about it, more than anything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYQ7GDQz864

Thanks, RG. I’ll check out the info on the “Love Day”.  It sounds like fun!

My tumblr page is http://cs-in-tn.tumblr.com/

[Author]

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