The Shame of Twitter

(Tweet)

One thing to note is that the GDPR specifically recognises “digital personal data”, which includes a person’s social media accounts and their posts there.

YY. They also refer specifically to "online identifiers" like anonymous twitter handles and Mumsnet names, and to jigsaw identification across several info sources being a risk that processors need to bear in mind.

I guess we can tweet that 'a spade is a spade' can't we 🤫?

If 'mass terf blocks' are being run by individuals/groups but affect a significant number of people's use of Twitter as a significant public platform, do the highlighted points apply?

Also what is the position of Madigan and Challenor as elected (minor) members of political parties tweeting in that role? Do Labour and Greens have any responsibility?

I'm appalled at how women are being treated.

I never thought of myself as a feminist, and didn't think we really needed them anymore, tbh.

I thought that we were already pretty equal with men, and I didn't mind that men were stronger and could do some things better than me.

My eyes have been well and truly opened by the cultish ideology that is transgender though.

The things that they're allowed to get away with saying/doing, and the basic truths women are being banned/silenced for, speaks louder than a 1000 words about the fact that women are NOT seen as equal to men.

On the contrary, we are expected to shut up and be nice, as is befitting of 'us wimmin'. Or at least, that seems to be many people's view.

I just want to thank all the regular posters for opening my eyes and educating me. It's scary, and I sometimes wish that I had remained oblivious, but this is too important to ignore. If I don't fight against it, and just rely on others to do it for me, there may not be enough of us. So, to all of those watching from the sidelines: Now is the time to stick your head above the parapet and stand up for women's rights, before it's too late.

Join, and be counted.

So perhaps relevant when:

a Twitter account is automatically blocked because it was following a specific number of others already (manually or also automatically) blocked.

Those accounts which cause the 'automated decision' are on lists described, publicised or understood as being for 'terfs / transphobes'.

The Twitter user now on the 'block list' may not know if /why or how they came to be on the list ( or indeed how the accounts that they have followed came to be on the list). They likely be unable to measure the consequences of this.

Having large parts of Twitter blocked may mean that you are unaware of being misrepresented / don't have full sight of conversations with influential accounts eg politicians etc / limited access to Twitter (does Twitter know?)

For some people having their identifiable Twitter account listed (terf/transphobe) may also have consequences with regards reputation? (I don't know how visible they all are although I believe some are shared openly-LM's ?)

Would being on a list characterised as being 'terfs/transphobes' be considered as profiling?

Hopefully someone better qualified will look into this. Aside from the possibility of GDPR breaches, I do think there is a need for further investigation.

As far as I’m aware, there are no exceptions to the GDPR - if an individual is or a group are collecting personal data, then they have to comply with the rules. A “Data Controller” is defined as a person or business who determines the purposes for which, and the way in which, personal data is processed.

One thing to note is that the GDPR specifically recognises “digital personal data”, which includes a person’s social media accounts and their posts there.

IANAGDPRL but I would think that anyone running a ‘mass terf block’ would need to comply with the GDPR or suffer the consequences.

Thanks for that David,
from the document:

You have the right:
• not to be subject to a decision that is based solely on automated processing if the decision affects your legal rights or other equally important matters (eg automatic refusal of an online credit application, and e-recruiting practices without human intervention)
• to understand the reasons behind decisions made about you by automated processing and the possible consequences of the decisions, and
• to object to profiling in certain situations, including for direct marketing."

After this section, reference is then made to 'organisations', so I'm not sure of the scope.

If 'mass terf blocks' are being run by individuals/groups but affect a significant number of people's use of Twitter as a significant public platform, do the highlighted points apply?

I finally remembered to look up what the GDPR says about automated decision making. As EU citizens, we have the right to:

• obtain human intervention to review the decision
• express our opinion
• obtain an explanation of the decision and challenge it

More information: ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/your-rights-relating-to-decisions-being-made-about-you-without-human-involvement/

I believe some 'mass terf blocks' have an option that if a certain number of the accounts that you follow are on the 'blocked' list, your account will then be automatically blocked as well.

The Twitter account that I made about three hours ago has been blocked. Apparently my account showed automated behaviours that contravene Twitter guidelines. I’m assuming that these automated behaviours are following the Twitter accounts of other gender critical women, as I haven’t even made a single tweet.

Radio 4 in a few minutes. 'Debate about Gender recognition laws'

Sorry,

linky

BBC covering this on their main news website now.

Covers the Twitter ban, Miranda and Man Friday.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-4428843

I'm pleased Fairplayforwomen have sent that letter - I wrote to Cheryl Sandburg n Jack Dorsey - but a letter from many is better cos TIMs/TRAs are weaponising the reporting system plus social media is based in California where trans are protected minority so nearly impossible to make any complaint against them - look at Ben Shapiro's experience and that was on tv and with witnesses

Here's a thought.

If you have a twitter account, you can report hate speech if and when you see it. Obviously everyone has different criteria for this but certainly for me tonight the one equating MN to a hotbed of terrorism qualifies.

If you don't actually tweet or re-tweet on your account I would imagine it would be pretty hard to get banned yourself though.

So don't tweet, but do report. Because the more reports they get the more chance there is of the hateful TRA posts feeling the force of the twitter ban too.

Obviously you probably have a life so don't spend it scouring twitter looking for stuff to report. But if you spend maybe 10 mins of that day reporting the die in a fire, suck my ladydick kind of stuff, it might help.

Here’s a letter to Twitter

fairplayforwomen.com/martha/

They are men becoming a man’s idea of what it is to be a woman.

Miranda, you nailed it. THIS very sentence is exactly what I've been trying to explain to my husband.

My mom is 6 feet tall, has huge hands and feet, a relatively deep voice (beautiful alto), and doesn't wear makeup. She likes her hair short, doesn't color it, and prefers comfortable clothing and shoes, (flannel, cotton, sneakers). She loves fixing things herself, and still chops and hauls wood for her fireplace. She is the original gender nonconformist--she just does what she wants, and really doesn't care what anyone else thinks.

But make no mistake that she is ALL woman. She birthed three babies, nursed them, suffered years of endometriosis before she finally got a physician to agree to a hysterectomy. She has dealt with the challenges of a "woman's profession" (nursing), and is still processing the guilt and shame instilled in her from her own strongly Catholic upbringing.

And despite all this, (just in recent years), she gets asked about her pronouns. As if because she isn't plastered with makeup and pearls, her femininity is in question.

If you want to know more about sprout, google him (and he is a he) on Kiwi Farms.

What's the connection between the last two paragraphs Lang. Good paragraphs but how are they coonnected?

Sorry, yes, they look like non sequiturs!

First para: in reply to Miranda.

Second para: separate thought about male entitlement being self-defeating - you get a lot of rejections and, even when you aren't rejected, your validation is limited because you know it is on the basis of a polite lie. Like your parents used to tell you, "Don't take. Wait to be asked."