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Feminism: Sex & gender discussions

Terfblocker

26 replies

RoyalCorgi · 27/03/2021 17:27

I often see it mentioned that Aimee Challenor developed the Terfblocker software. Sometimes people say that Aimee developed it in conjunction with her father David.

Is there any evidence for these assertions, particularly the second one? I found an old Mumsnet thread containing screenshots where Aimee seems to acknowledge being behind Terfblocker (saying it has 50,000 names on it) and also that she is developing a new one, but I've also seen a tweet from Aimee denying having anything to do with it. There doesn't seem to be any evidence that Challenor senior had anything to do with either pieces of software. Here's the thread where it was discussed before:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3347854-The-TerFblocker-list

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Cwenthryth · 27/03/2021 17:36

I had a Twitter convo about this the other day.

It seems the original Terfblocker was someone else and they shut it down, and AC launched BockTERFs, basically the same thing.

twitter.com/cwenthryth/status/1375008596933623808?s=21

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RoyalCorgi · 27/03/2021 18:37

Thanks, Cwenthryth. That's helpful. It's slightly odd, because when Aimee claims that there are 50,000 accounts on the Terf blocking software, she seems to be referring to the original Terf blocker rather than the new one. So perhaps she had some involvement in the old one too? Maybe not.

But there doesn't seem to be any solid evidence that Aimee developed the software with David Challenor - just an assumption that people have made.

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GNCQ · 27/03/2021 18:51

Aimee Chanellor didn't create it as far as I know but probably added to it at some point.
I'm pretty sure Lily Madigan of Labour women's officer fame was boasting about adding names to it at one point and sharing it around. I think anyone can share it but no idea where it came from.

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Ereshkigalangcleg · 27/03/2021 20:36

I'm pretty sure Lily Madigan of Labour women's officer fame was boasting about adding names to it at one point and sharing it around. I think anyone can share it but no idea where it came from.

Lily Madigan actually managed to get the original guy who ran terfblocker to delete it. It was originally run by some gay bloke, but Madigan got in an argument with him about his failure to be a totally satisfactory trans ally and he deleted the whole account, and then someone else, more of an obvious TRA, took it over. While it was down, people claimed they were "unsafe" because they might have to read opinions they disagreed with.

It was one of the funniest moments of the online gender wars.

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Xanthangum · 28/03/2021 07:33

If I have understood things correctly, terfblocker is just one of a number of blockhouse the seek to protect your innocent eyes from accidentally reading the opinions of... aphobes and anti-polyamory people, among others

blockthehate.carrd.co/#blocklists

And much of the coding and development is down to someone called James Billingham/ oolon/ theonlysprout

jamesbillingham677652410.wordpress.com/

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Xanthangum · 28/03/2021 07:33

blockbots. Not blockhouse. Weird autocorrect

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R0wantrees · 28/03/2021 08:34

And much of the coding and development is down to someone called James Billingham/ oolon/ theonlysprout


archive.is/fVeaM

It was discussed on BBC Newsnight with Billingham & Paul Mason. I cant find a link which includes the interview with Billingham

"Controversy over Block Bot Twitter application
Newsnight's Gavin Esler and Paul Mason discuss The Block Bot, a Twitter application which automatically blocks some Twitter users on a central list, and the complaints Newsnight received from people saying that it had been incorrectly characterised."

01 Aug 2013
//www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-23533566/controversy-over-block-bot-twitter-application

Vice 'I Am Now Officially a Transphobic Twitter Troll
At least according to the 'Block Blot' I am.'
By Martin Robbins
08 August 2014
(extract)

"It was for that reason that British atheist James Billingham created the Block Bot, a tool that enabled a community of users to rapidly detect and neutralise abusive accounts, adding them to a crowd-sourced block list.

It seemed like a good idea at the time (though some criticism seems eerily prescient today). Newsnight picked up the story, and some even suggested that Twitter should adopt the technology itself. Which makes it all the more remarkable that Caroline Criado-Perez is on the block list. Helen Lewis, a journalist and editor, has done more than most to highlight the abuse of women online – she too is on the block list. And – as of this week – so am I. What the fuck is happening?

Trying to find the reason for my block was like negotiating a sort of weird, passive-aggressive minefield." (continues)

//www.vice.com/en_uk/article/7bap7y/whats-the-block-blot-martin-robbins-757

The various 'Terf Blockers' appear to be streamlined/re-launched versions of 'Block Bot' after the original had been taken down following criticism/exposure.


Corinna Cohn and Miranda Yardley discuss the botblock at 13:10

CC "The main purpose of it, in my opinion, was to insulate the broader trans community from having two perspectives like yours and mine where we were saying, not that it was shameful to be trans but trans is its own independent entity or identity that does not have to be conflated with being female and that trans people are just as deserving of dignity and participation in society as anyone else. It's just that we shouldn't have to erase what female is in order for us to have our own equal standing inside. But we would make arguments like that on Twitter and they just don't want people to hear us say that. What they want to do is set a strong man argument saying that we want to erase trans people or kill trans people and that's obviously fallacious. That the truth would be understood very quickly if they didn't have instruments to help silence us"

t]]
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Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 28/03/2021 08:46

Counterproductive, of course. It must have come as a rude shock to AC and partners this week that even on Reddit, when their views/interests became more widely known, the vast majority of mods and users were aghast. Bubble popped.

Challenor sr worked in IT at a college or university in Coventry for a number of years, I believe, so may have had some coding skills.

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R0wantrees · 28/03/2021 08:49

Apologies, the interview segment with James Billingham from Newsnight discussing his 'blockbot' is at 2:45

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-23516704

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Doyoumind · 28/03/2021 08:53

Off topic but whatever happened to Lily M?

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R0wantrees · 28/03/2021 08:55

Challenor sr worked in IT at a college or university in Coventry for a number of years, I believe, so may have had some coding skills.

26 MAY 2017 Coventry Telegraph
'Green Party General Election candidate's ties to Anonymous and arrest exposed
Transgender candidate was arrested over Birmingham Bullring threat when she was living as a boy'
(extract)

"General Election candidate Aimee Challenor was arrested four years ago on suspicion of threatening to launch a cyber attack on the Birmingham Bullring Shopping Centre, the Telegraph can reveal.

The Green Party candidate, who is transgender, was living as a boy at the time of the arrest in February 2013 when she was 15 years old. But no charges were ever brought and the case was later dropped. Her identity was protected until she turned 19.

At the time of the arrest, Miss Challenor attached herself to the group of internet activists known as Anonymous and was suspected of threatening to bring the Bullring website down after a disagreement with security guards during a tax evasion protest at the site.

West Midlands Police stormed the family home, in the Stoke area of the city, where seven officers broke down the door and arrested the teenager.

But Miss Challenor insists that she is not ashamed of her past and that the incident helped her to become who she is today. She also says she didn’t break the law and no longer attaches herself to Anonymous" (continues)

www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/green-party-general-election-transgender-13092743

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Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 28/03/2021 09:24

Yes, AC may well have some coding skills too. AC's education appears to have been very sporadic and I would imagine AC spent an enormous amount of time online from a young age.

I was wondering about LM too. Due to graduate this year, if still at Goldsmith's?

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RoyalCorgi · 28/03/2021 13:08

Coding and IT seems to be Aimee's main skillset. I don't know whether Aimee learnt them from David Challenor or at school. I'm not even clear whether Aimee has any post-GCSE qualifications.

According to a tweet in December by ripx4nutmeg: "The then-teenager, Lily Madigan, who took a Labour women's officer role from a lesbian, shortly after coming out as a 'trans lesbian', but then took a lower profile due to sexual assault allegations by a young woman in Labour, has rebranded as a poet (trans no longer in the bio)"

Link to pic of Lily's Twitter account:

twitter.com/ripx4nutmeg/status/1342177203627450370/photo/1

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Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 28/03/2021 13:46

Thanks, @RoyalCorgi.

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R0wantrees · 28/03/2021 13:55

Coding and IT seems to be Aimee's main skillset. I don't know whether Aimee learnt them from David Challenor or at school. I'm not even clear whether Aimee has any post-GCSE qualifications

Aimee Challenor was the Trans Students representative for Open University.


"OU Student Association:
'In 2017, our student leadership team, Trustees and staff worked collectively to devise our strategic plan for the next three years through to 2020. The final strategy was approved by the Central Executive Committee and ratified by the Board of Trustees in July 2017.

Through the progression of the three core objectives contained within the strategy, we want to ensure that OU students get the most out of their time with The Open University and that their collective voice is heard and acted upon by the institution and by their Students Association. We aim to raise awareness of our services and achievements, provide a sense of belonging and connectedness and create a greater range of diverse opportunities for many more OU students than ever before. We also aim to be more effective at representing the OU student voice, not just within the University but in the wider external environment'

We believe that the student community and student voice are crucial aspects of what makes the OU a special organisation and we look forward to furthering the engagement and inclusion of all OU students in the transformation of this unique institution.

All of this couldn’t be achieved without the dedication of our numerous volunteers, as the Students Association is ultimately run by students, for students.'

INTRODUCING THE NEW COMMITTEE FOR PLEXUS - OUR LGBT+ GROUP
Following the recent recruitment campaign PLEXUS, our LGBT+ group, is pleased to announce the new members of your PLEXUS Committee 2018.

The Officers, including the Chair of PLEXUS are supported by five Caucus Representatives. Their role is to represent different communities within the LGBT+ community.

Top Right: Aimee Challenor, Trans Students

PLEXUS New Committee Member 2018 – Biographies
"Trans Students Representative – Aimee Challenor
Aimee is a trans equality campaigner from Coventry. In 2014 Aimee came out as transgender whilst at college aged 16. Since coming out Aimee speaks openly about her experiences as a young trans woman, and campaigns for acceptance without exception. She's a trustee of Coventry Pride, and a member of Stonewall's Trans Advisory Group. At the Open University she's studying for her BA (Hons) in History and Politics. You can find out more about her at //www.aimeec.co.uk "

from March 2019 thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3538524-OU-caves-to-bullies

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andyoldlabour · 28/03/2021 14:36

I read these threads, do a bit of searching on Google and then feel as if I have gone down some enormous rabbit hole, full of unpleasant things. Has anyone heard of Allison Woolbert?

rftbk.github.io/trans-db/trans-violence/primary-sources/allison-woolbert.html

Then we have something called "Shinigami-eyes", designed by one Laurelai James Earl Bailey who was a mod on R/LGBT. Lots of information on "another" site.

addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/shinigami-eyes/

ovarit.com/o/GenderCritical/5105/3-for-3-terf-tracker-terfblocker-and-shinigami-eyes-terf-hunter-all-created-by-o/51be5d64-3a89-49ad-bc4b-5c6b902a4899

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R0wantrees · 29/03/2021 09:30

I read these threads, do a bit of searching on Google and then feel as if I have gone down some enormous rabbit hole, full of unpleasant things. Has anyone heard of Allison Woolbert?

Woman Are Human article:
'Man Hides Past as Child Rapist by Becoming Transgender, Changing Name Allison (né Dennis) Woolbert'
By Diana Shaw -June 2, 2018
(extract)
"Allison Woolbert was a prominent transgender activist, and is a veteran of the United States Air Force, a man who identifies as a woman, and a convicted child rapist. At the age of 28, while still legally known by his birth name, Dennis, Mr Woolbert repeatedly raped his relative, a 15-year-old girl, by forceful penetration. The sexual assaults occurred over a two-month period in 1992. After serving four years of a six-year prison sentence for the crime, Mr Woolbert was released from prison and declared himself a woman. He changed his appearance to better emulate a woman’s, and renamed himself Allison. At the time of Mr Woolbert’s sentence, New Jersey state law did not yet mandate registration for sex offenders. Thus, Mr Woolbert is not on any sex offender registry, which enabled his history of sexual violence toward a minor to go undetected for years. Mr Woolbert rose to the position of Executive Director of the Transgender Human Rights Institute (THRI) and founded Transgender Violence Tracking Portal (TVTP) and TERF Tracker. In his position at THRI, Mr Woolbert advocated for transgender-identifying youth, which gave him far greater access to minors than the average person.

According to Gender Trender, as a “TERF Tracker,” Mr Woolbert and fellow transgender-identifying men Laurelai (née Wesley) Bailey and Melissa (née Harrison) Savage teamed up to cyber-stalk women whom they suspected might believe in biological sex, as opposed to gender identity ideology and the possibility that sex can be changed. The trio of men made this determination by checking to see who “liked” posts they disagreed with, Gender Trender reports. The men declared these women “TERFs,” and would reveal online the women’s personally identifying information in an attack known as “doxxing,” (continues)

www.womenarehuman.com/man-hides-past-as-child-rapist-by-becoming-transgender-and-changing-name-allison-nee-dennis-woolbert/

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andyoldlabour · 31/03/2021 11:48

R0wantrees

Why am I not shocked? I don't even know where to start unpicking that horrific mess. Released after just four years for raping a child. Allowed by the system to obliterate his true past. Teaming up with others to stalk and dox women.
Interesting Linkedin.

www.linkedin.com/in/allison-woolbert-428629b9

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RabbitOfCaerbannog · 31/03/2021 11:59

It's almost as if some untrustworthy individuals are using transition as a means of identity swap to evade past crimes and wipe the slate clean, it might also give them access to spaces they might otherwise not be welcome in 🤔

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R0wantrees · 31/03/2021 12:02

andyoldlabour
Its much easier to unpick and understand the sadly familiar dynamics in that mess when accurate language clearly describing sex and age is used.
Though not on most Social Media platforms, since to do so would be to then become potentially silenced forever by reports, bots or algorithms.
I have been bemused for a few years that so many adults were unable/unwilling to join such obvious dots together and take more seriously the consequences for Child Protection/ Safeguarding.

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andyoldlabour · 31/03/2021 12:14

RabbitOfCaerbannog

I couldn't agree more - charities, girl guides, forums for children etc.

R0wantrees

As in the case of Saville and others, these people have been helped/enabled rather than questioned and then stopped, so that would tell me that corruption, blackmail and money are leading the way.

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LuSaura · 25/05/2021 11:48

Hi, I am Lu

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PandorasMailbox · 25/05/2021 14:29

@Doyoumind

Off topic but whatever happened to Lily M?

Lily left most of social media after being accused of harassment by several young lesbians and now only exists on Instagram.
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LuSaura · 25/05/2021 18:37

Hello:
I too am scared reading all these things that are new to me.
What a horrible future awaits us

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