The distinction between online “free speech”—often posited as a defence by website owners and admins—and offline harassment and abuse is becoming increasingly discredited.
Pretty easy to distinguish between people talking about recipes on an anonymous forum and somebody urinating on a door. Perhaps Eve could have benefited from doing some more in depth research.
Prior argues that Mumsnet has been hijacked by anti-trans campaigners as a safe space for organizing, rather than the sentiment having grown organically through its original base.
I'm really confused - are these people supposed to be white middle class mothers too, or is 'white middle class mother' just supposed to discredit the site generally?
In its early days, Mumsnet operated as a one-stop-shop for mothers. Amongst discussions about the practicalities of motherhood, childcare, support for disabled children, and a range of other topics, Mumsnet was most likely to hit headlines for the likes of the infamous "penis beaker” thread, which gained internet notoriety when a user asked for views on her post-sex cleanup arrangements.
Don't know what counts as the early days - I think I first posted in about 2004, but from what I remember there have always lengthy, informed, well argued discussions about politics. I think of 'penis beaker' as comparatively recent. (Just checked, it was 2013 - I remember this more as the era of Bedroom Tax threads).