For all of you who don't understand the disgust with the Daily Mail...

[Spero]

I have just been told they have published an article about John Hemming in which they name me. Both my real name and my user name.

Luckily for me I don't care. Luckily for me I decided long ago I would never put anything on line that I would be ashamed/upset/frightened for anyone else to read.

But for lots of people this would be a complete and utter disaster. People post really personal and sensitive stuff on this site about the worst times of their lives, looking for help and support. They must know that.

Note that they never bothered contacting me to find out which category I fell into.

So if anyone wants to start another wide eyed innocent thread - o I just don't understand why you all hate the Daily Mail so much!

Does this kind of thing help you understand a little more?

I will link to the scum bags but only because I hope people might leave some 'helpful' comments about JH.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2532649/MP-John-Hemming-banned-Mumsnet-posting-Italian-woman-forced-courts-caesarean.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Cleo I believe that may be in hand.

But a flood of complaints would be even better perhaps ?

I have reported JH to the ICO via email to the caseworker on Jan 2nd. I have got an automated response saying they are looking at my complaint.

they investigated me in 2011 after I had confidential files stolen from my car - they were very serious and very frightening. I was told I might face court action and a fine of £40K plus.

I hope they will show the same eagerness to pursue a complaint against an MP.

OK :) I will try that too

I have punched the air reading the few comments whereby people have lambasted him for Mnetting and being pissed whislt doing so- great to see how obviously very busy he is...

I hadn't clicked on this because I assumed it was a recycling of the same old misogyny, benefits hatred etc from the DM we all know and hate. I'm actually shocked as I thought the Leveson inquiry, the stuff that came out when "Girl with a one track mind" was outed etc meant that they were being more careful about how they treat private individuals. Obviously not.

ha! you are here!

We Are Everywhere Madame

think MNHQ are happy with the coverage?

I hope so. It shows MN in a good light. Principled an' everyfink.

Irresponsible pricks are the DF.

I think they should be. It would have been easier and a lot less stressful for us to just jump up and down about it here and do nothing of substance.

But we have. Some at a high level of personal risk cos of what they do and where they live.

I think it underlines that penis drinking receptical et al are a long long way from defining MN and all who sail in her.

Do you know how many news sites have picked this up now?

There are some really sensitive threads about and I'm worried that if some weirdo bastard journos followed certain posters posts it might out the OP's and the professionals who are trying to help them anonymously.

gertrude the media have been interested in MN at least since Gordon Brown was asked what his favourite biscuit was (and I was a feckless student then). Its not like this is a hidden corner of the web, its one of the most powerful websites in the UK which politicians court for support. It wouldn't be news otherwise.

This is why outing a poster to the press is unacceptable, which means standing up and making a point. Its also why calling politicians on bullshit, especially dangerous bullshit on MN is important.

Ah! Biscuitgate! Possibly my finest MN moment....

And I got a special packet of No 10 biccies as well!

Was that you madame?

I might have been, er, implicated

mines I know. I'm not disputing any of that but there are some individuals who this could have a massive personal impact on who may not have understood that MN was so massive.

I'm trying to be non specific because I don't want to out threads. It's all well and good standing as a collective and saying 'This is wrong', I totally believe in doing that on a personal level, but if by doing that you shine a stronger media light on vulnerable people who could be potentially penalised by some of the detail they have given here, in a public domain, it gets dangerous. For example being held in contempt of court or impact on statutory interventions / safeguarding of children. I know lots of people will say 'well they should be more careful about the information they give online' but individual responsibility is tricky for someone in a vulnerable position seeking support.

gertrude But part of the reason people are taking a stand is to protect vulnerable people. JH (and some of his cronies) are known for giving some quite dangerous advice to vulnerable people.

The Daily Mail reports that JH has been banned from MN for outing. The DM is not bound by the rules of any arbitrary website, so the fact that JH was banned for doing something here doesn't necessarily mean the DM shouldn't do it.

Further, the identity of spero is published on John Hemming's website. JH is an MP, so this is a reasonable source to use as a matter of general principle, it satisfies a higher standard of referenceability than some random blog.

Also spero herself has on this website in the past posted her name, which is info available for anyone to find archived on the public Internet for four or more years.

Of course there is a difference between one post out of thousands made years ago and publishing something in a national newspaper website, but even so when you publish your own name, you have no reasonable expectation of anonymity.

Have been following this/ lurking but haven't commented until now. I really want to offer more to Spero, Carpe and others who have taken time and effort to try to see that this man is held to account.

It is important that people in power are not allowed to abuse it.

I will continue to follow this and am trying to think if/ how I can help at all. I know it can be upsetting and wearying to take something like this on, but you all seem remarkably calm and capable, so more power to your elbows and wishing you all the best!

There is definitely a line of course, and the DM are quite close to it in this case, but it's not clear cut as it might be if this were merely a poster who had never published her own name, but was nonetheless identifiable through clues/investigative journalism.

gertrude

Everything I have written, posted, tweeted, emailed, phoned in I have done in my own name.

It was not I that chose MN as the location for Hemming to come undone. That is on him. He was the one who I believe percied us as "mere silly femailes" and let his guard down in complete under estimation of what we are in reality, rather than on the pages of a sneering press.

Staying quiet to protect the innocent will have the opposie effect of what we are trying to do.

ie Make sure a well deserved reputation follows him everywhere like a bad smell, thus making some vulnerable people think twice before putting their mental health, welfare, confidential legal documents and identity in his hands in good faith.

Aga - I am not complaining about myself. It is clear I had already outed myself.

Not in a national newspaper but buried deep, deep in some comments in some threads now many years old.

But I accept that once I let that particular cat out of the bag I can't now bleat about anonymity.

BUT. What was the point of printing BOTH my user name and my real name? Of what relevance was that to the story? How did it help?

all it will do is scare and intimidate those who would be very worried if their real names and poster names were published.

And I suspect that is exactly why it was done.

Gertrude, I think I know what you are on about.

The trouble is, that there is no way to go back in time, even if mn deleted all of a posters posts on a particular thread, so it didnt come up when they were searched, their name would remain with "message deleted" message. Don't know what can be done about that though...? :(