To think hate speach against mums on Instagram / YouTube should be make a crime

[Bekindnotabully]

With social media it's allowed amazing ways to communicate with people. But it's also allowed trolling and harrasment to happen at unprecedented scale.

Sites like tattle life and increasing Mumsnet allow people to troll women that make their living out of social media and the current rules in place don't allow the police to identify and bring to justice the trolls. You can pretty much say what you like including bullying someone over their appearance and their parenting with zero repreciousons. It's not on and needs to change.

I could go on but aibu to think these rules need to change? People are taking their own lives and the government did not approve my petition to afford people on social media greater human rights protection.

My mum was the old school version of this - a lifestyle journalist.

My sister and I got recognised by our name tags in our coats and harangued on the bus about her views. We were actually approached on the way home because we were recognised by two Australian women who read her column and were visiting the area on a trip to the UK.

I must stress that my mum was by no means famous, and that her columns had low circulation. Nowhere near the amount of reach of the internet, and not accessible in everyone's pockets.

I take an extremely dim view of parents who do this.

The internet gave rise to the oddball stalker types having an outlet and some people who are presumably jealous get fixated on them.

@WorraLiberty

I'd sooner see some privacy laws brought in to protect children from parents, who deem it reasonable to parade their kids all over the internet and document everything publicly - from their first shit to their last day at school.

👏👏👏

Hate crimes against women? Yep, up for prosecuting those. But being a mum is not a protected characteristic.

@VodselForDinner

Between this and the petition around parents being exempt from redundancy, I actually despair.

Please tell me the petition about not making parents redundant is a joke?

Someone paid to write for the DM calling out online bullying 😂

Please tell me the petition about not making parents redundant is a joke?

Nope, it’s for real. Trying to find the thread.

Basically a thread making “being a parent” a protected characteristic with the poster arguing that it’d mean parents who are unable to work because of childcare issues would go to the back of the queue for redundancies. In effect, those who could attend work would be laid off to keep on those who can’t.

@Inthebackoftheimpala

Someone paid to write for the DM calling out online bullying 😂

The irony, eh...?!

@VodselForDinner

Please tell me the petition about not making parents redundant is a joke?

Nope, it’s for real. Trying to find the thread.

Basically a thread making “being a parent” a protected characteristic with the poster arguing that it’d mean parents who are unable to work because of childcare issues would go to the back of the queue for redundancies. In effect, those who could attend work would be laid off to keep on those who can’t.

Mad. Presumably DH and I don't need to keep a roof over our heads and pay the bills!

Found it!

The petition has a total of 131 signatures.

Presumably DH and I don't need to keep a roof over our heads and pay the bills!

And all the vast amount of extra hours I’ve done for the last few months to make up for colleagues who weren’t able to work due to not having childcare mean nothing because obviously my company can just get rid of me, keep on someone doing low part-time hours, and the business will run perfectly.

Yeah, sometimes tattle is too much. However isn’t it human nature to gossip? I don’t mean in a horrible way about looks or anything, but sometimes you want to chat about the things you’re watching.
When I was a teen pretty much every singer/group had forums and people could gossip/chat about them. You can’t do that in a comment section and usually if anyone comments anything at all other than praise the ‘fans’ pounce. (I don’t comment on instas nor do I post on tattle but this is just my view, it seems lately that literally anything you say about someone is deemed as trolling)

Forgot the link

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/petitions_noticeboard/3980118-Losing-my-job-because-Im-a-parent

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius

The ones who need protection - and maybe a bit of sympathy from *@Bekindnotabully* - are the children whose lives are being monetised without their consent by their parents.

Spot on!

On the Susie thread, I said if you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Same is true for social media.

I have nothing against Susie, I didn't even know who she was until I started reading the last thread. But if you build up a business based on social media, then you need to be prepared to take the bad as well as the good. I've read the thread here and on tattle and I haven't seen any of the types of posts the OP has mentioned about Susie (not saying they don't exist).

I'd never heard of tattle until seeing it mentioned on here on a precious thread. Had a little browse, wasn't my cup of tea as I don't have insta or watch YT, but most of the threads I looked at seemed to be calling them out for not declaring ads, or being hypocritical ie basing their 'brand' on something and doing the opposite. I can well imagine there are plenty of threads that get personal about appearances etc, but I suppose they can choose not to read them. I was hoping covid would make influencers etc irrelevant, but sadly it doesn't seem so.

Sorry but I'm all up for constructive criticism, but lots of it on here and tattle has been nothing of the sort. Saying that Susie looks demonic or that they feel sorry for her son is not constructive at all.

This is a real person, how would you feel if your daughter / wife / friend / mother was being ripped to shreds over everything about her. It's ghastly.

I’ve no idea who Susie is, but as I’m always telling my kids, rather than take a hit to your self esteem, and allow yourself to be bullied, get off social media.

I don't know who Susie is, but it seems that perhaps she is not cut out for a career that puts her in the public eye. People should be nice, but you can't control other people. She needs to develop a thicker skin.

Well yes it is 'ghastly' if what you say his true, but she makes her money by having an online presence and through her followers on social media etc. She can always go offline, or not read sites like tattle.

@Bekindnotabully

Sorry but I'm all up for constructive criticism, but lots of it on here and tattle has been nothing of the sort. Saying that Susie looks demonic or that they feel sorry for her son is not constructive at all.

This is a real person, how would you feel if your daughter / wife / friend / mother was being ripped to shreds over everything about her. It's ghastly.

How many of the posts on here or the other site have said this? Can you show us where she's been 'ripped to shreds'...?

Saying that Susie looks demonic or that they feel sorry for her son is not constructive at all.

I feel sorry for anyone's children when their parents are using their childhood to earn quick cash and get themselves 'famous'.

He's a child, not a commercial enterprise.

This is a real person, how would you feel if your daughter / wife / friend / mother was being ripped to shreds over everything about her. It's ghastly.

I'd tell her to get off social media and allow the trolls to forget about her. I certainly wouldn't tell her to come onto MN looking for sympathy and promotion.

Influencing isn't an important job. These people aren't actually contributing anything to society and are quite possibly exploiting their children to make money.

I'd tell her go get a proper job and live in the obscurity that the rest of us enjoy.

@Bekindnotabully

Sorry but I'm all up for constructive criticism, but lots of it on here and tattle has been nothing of the sort. Saying that Susie looks demonic or that they feel sorry for her son is not constructive at all.

This is a real person, how would you feel if your daughter / wife / friend / mother was being ripped to shreds over everything about her. It's ghastly.

If she can't handle it, it's time to get out of the public eye. You can't be 'famous' if you can't handle criticism, whether that's personal or constructive.

And as always, she's chosen to put herself out there. Her kid hasn't.

But look on the bright side. A lot of people on this thread don't even know who Susie is (including me).

I am reminded of people in workplaces who moan about everything; moan when they’re rewarded (it’s not enough), when they receive communication / information (you could have told us earlier) and moan when they’re pulled up for doing something wrong (well John did this, and you didn’t tell him off)

Influencers seem to find something to moan about.

My advice to anyone who has a job that makes you unhappy, negative, it no longer gives you satisfaction and/or the bad points outweighs the good, then leave. No one is forcing you to carry it on.

I say this to my staff, and the same applies to influencers.

Influencers want the £££ and fame, as well as the control over their ‘fans’... you can’t have both. Look at actual celebrities. Those that want to stay out of the spot light or keep the personal life private, manage it by not being on social media and having very strict boundaries about what people know about them.

There is a common piece of advice that reviews are for readers/viewers, not the creator. Even more common is don't read the comments. It's not uncommon for people to have others read through things if they really want to know for the constructive comments from muck and hate.

I've no idea who Susan is, or what tattle is, but parents get shite judgemental comments on their parenting. I mean, have you heard the comments given about the parents on various dance mum/pageant mum shows? The ones some years back with the really smart kids got a load of nasty comments. Honestly, if the worst that's said is that she looks demonic and some feel sorry for her son (and many feel sorry for kids who get cameras in their faces), that's pretty light.

Wanting better enforcement of laws already in place on online threats and harassment is one thing, but whatever we think of most online remarks, it's not hate speech. The hate speech laws are wobbly at best, but really does not need to include people mocking others' looks and parenting into it. People are allowed to find us ugly, demonic even, and question our parenting choices. Some of us have had those to our faces. It's not nice, but a random remark isn't something that the law needs to be brought into most of the time.