The MNHQ Moderation Team: Thread 2

[BarrackerBarmer]

Follow on thread regarding the data breach situation:
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Dear MNHQ

I'm very grateful for the commitment to free speech you've publicly taken, and for Justine's courage this week.

A former disgruntled employee of MN is writing on Twitter about the 'transphobia' of MN staff, and calling you TERFs. She is showing a great deal of bias and intolerance towards women with feminist views, this may well be her honest opinion, which is no big deal I suppose, since she is no longer an employee.

At least, it isn't an issue until she calls a shout out to her
'friends who still work at MN' to report and take down posts by 'transphobic scum', by which she appears to be referring to any poster objecting to being called TERF by her friend.

Regardless of the personal views of the MNHQ staff, who should be as free to hold their own views as I am mine, I am disturbed that there may be a small contingent of employees who are invested in unfair moderation and will not be applying fair-handed principles, at least if the claims of this ex-employee are credible.

Can you please give posters some reassurance that the difficult job of fair-handed moderation isn't being abused by the 'friends' of ex-employees who are 'reporting it all' and taking down posts because any gender criticism means the poster is 'transphobic scum'?

Thank you.

I’m glad you’ve apologised Emma and sincerely hope you really have learnt those lessons.

I do still really admire Mumsnet as a women’s organisation and a community despite what has happened

I'm sorry but I call bullshit given what she has previously written about MN. That is desperate arse covering and is entirely irrelevant to the action MN needs to take.

Not at all moved by that apology. Too fucking late. Thanks for the reassuring update earlier though Justine.

Hopefully that totally inadequate apology will not deter Mumsnet from informing the police. Data protection is extremely serious and let's not forget that the information could be used to doxx people with all that entails. Who knows who has our data?

Is she sorry about the consequences for Mumsnetters, or herself? I've made my own mind up on that one.

Thanks for chasing that up Justine and for posting Emma's reply. I'll put on hold for now what I think about the reply, but somewhat naive in the techy department I was wondering what Emma could or would do re making sure that all data already leaked is 'mopped up' (is that even possible?) and whether she has made any commitment to agreeing to discard any/all data she may still hold? That's the rub for me, she's apologised, but not made any statements re what she has on us or what she intends to do with it. I guess I'd also wonder in my neanderthal way whether MNHQ has put any legal thumbscrews in re what may happen to Emma if said data turns up accidentally or as leaked by anyone else?

And the "apology" sounds very much like it was written by someone else - it's not exactly from the heart is it.

Am I misreading, or does she only apologise for the tweets/blog and not for the actual stealing of data?

And the "users who felt" bit couldn't be much more of a non-apology apology if it tried

Also, the friends that Emma claimed she still has who work at MNHQ and who would report threads for her and get them taken down - have these people been identified? Do they actually exist? If so, what's being done about that?

@JustineMumsnet

Obviously some of the above are HR issues that probably can't be discussed in public, but it would be great to get some reassurance that this part of the problem hasn't been lost in the shuffle.

Slap on the wrist and off you go.

Focus really needs to open up to those who are using Emma's publication. There are many within the LGBT+ community who are being similarly manipulated by some TRAs with extreme ideology.

How absolutely laughable and insincere. And irrelevant. Do not let this go MNHQ. She still doesn't comprehend what she has done. The problem is nothing to do with her views.

So nothing about whether those screenshots are the only data she has kept from her time at mnhq?

Justine thanks for posting that. I think it's a necessary first step, but I don't believe it can be the only step.

Emma doesn't seem to understand at all what she's done. She talks about apologising to users "who have felt hurt, attacked, or vulnerable due to my actions." This isn't just about feelings. It's about actual-real-world harm, releasing personal information into the custody of people she knows perfectly well wish gender-critical women actual real social, economic and physical harm.

It's also about making many vulnerable women scared about posting on a site which has helped so very many other vulnerable women - which has real-life consequences. (If I've typed the Women's Aid and Rape Crisis freephone numbers once on this site in response to someone's post, I've done it dozens of times, as have many other women.)

Of course Emma is running scared. In a way, I feel for her. She's been incredibly stupid, and with this apology she will be disowned and trashed by TRAs, the very people she thought she was championing.

But this muddled apology from someone who still hasn't understood what she's done really isn't enough.

Thank you Justine.

A bit late now Emma, those details are all over the internet even now and will be forever more. I hope you suffer for your actions.

Justine, thank you for the updates, I for one feel a little more reassured than I did yesterday.

How absolutely laughable and insincere. And irrelevant. Do not let this go MNHQ. She still doesn't comprehend what she has done. The problem is nothing to do with her views.

It’s not in MNHQs hands now. They’ve reported this to the police. It’s up to them what happens next.

I do still really admire Mumsnet as a women’s organisation and a community despite what has happened. I wish you the best of luck with continuing your campaigns around Better Postnatal Care and maternity wards - change needs to happen in this area and Mumsnet are the best positioned to lead the charge.

That's awfully good of her to say that we people-with-uteri-who-breed still deserve better medical treatment, despite our collective scum-ness.

"Taking time away from social media" does make me laugh though, what with the frequency some people quoted in FWR seem to do it 😂

Has anyone else has a privacy alert pop up saying mumsnet is unsafe and has a data breach? It popped up on my phone 6 mins after my last post at 12:19. I tried to screenshot but it didnt work (ive never done that before) and when i tried to get back on to mumsnet it was really really *slow

• its been slow for me for about 2 weeks now so could be unrelated. I thought it was just my connection, not so sure now.

@JustineMumsnet Well, that should make the prosecution fairly straightforward then.

Do we know this has been reported to the police? I remember seeing Justine saying it would be reported but not that it had been. I hope this 'apology' hasn't made MNHQ reconsider that.

Quite the fauxpology Emma. Not good enough.

You can’t be sorry for “what has happened” as if you were a bystander. You have to be sorry for what you did.

You have not apologised for the intent. Blaming it on posting in anger when you clearly took and kept screenshots for a reason - and the only reason I can see is a scheme such as this. You haven’t show any contrition for your premeditated actions.

I’d suggest reflecting a bit further and realising that a mealy mouthed apology isn’t an apology at all. If you don’t want to offer, and mean, a heartfelt apology and attempt to undo the harm you’ve done then it’s sensible to not say anything at all.

I only hope that the harm you have done women on here isn’t too far reaching. This site is an actual lifeline for some users (it was for me when I was ill) and you’ve undermined their ability to feel safe here.

"I got caught. Please Daddy, don't stop my pocket money".

I just posted a big, carefully-worded paragraph upthread, but this says it better, really...