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.

Ihaveno if you genuinely don't understand how you're missing the point I can explain it, but please tell me you are joking.

Not sure where the discussion is continuing, but this is what I wrote on the update thread:

Thanks for the update, and for dealing with this issue so far.

This bit I think needs a bit of clarification:

”We’ll also be re-stressing to everyone who currently works for Mumsnet their personal responsibility to our users, and reaffirming that a commitment to protecting their data is a fundamental, non-negotiable company value.”

It’s not a “company value”, it’s the law, and I hope that all your staff, especially Emma Healey’s “friends on the inside” have unequivocally been made aware that data breaches of this nature are a crime.

Frankly, if no further action is going to be taken against Emma, her friends may well be thinking it’s a risk worth taking to continue their crusade.

Emma needs to be up in the dock explaining herself.

I'm not minimising anything. Literally very little has actually happened and what has been theorised hasn't happened and no suggestion it will. No-one has been doxed, no-one has been threatened, no-one harmed. It COULD happen theoretically but extremely unlikely that someone would go to the trouble of piecing together random bits of info. Which is why I'm saying if someone REALLY wanted your info, there are far easier ways to access it than MN.

And as a HCP I have a huge amount of information relating not just to personally identifiable information but also views of abortion, race, transgender issues etc which is held on that persons electronic file. As does anyone working in my trust (although access may be audited for those not directly working with the individual).

Ihaveno,
You really can't see that someone's posting history including may be death of family, children's accomplishments, abortion, domestic violence, rants about in laws, benefits advice, Anti TRA/MRA posts
Will be enough when combined with e-mail in real name and may be postcode to find the poster and out them, try to blackmail them, give an ex partner the ability to find them despite possible dv or even hurt them for the views they hold?
Fwiw to anyone out there who has tracked me down, do your worst, I ain't scared.

And as a HCP I have a huge amount of information relating not just to personally identifiable information but also views of abortion, race, transgender issues etc which is held on that persons electronic file.

Er why?

Ihavenofuckstogive The problem is, she didn't need to connect the dots while actually working for MN. All she needed to do was get a list of peoples NN history and do the rest in her own time. She only needed long enough to harvest the data then do the jigsaw once she left MN.

I'm not saying it couldn't be Floof. I'm saying that the likelihood of it occuring via MN is so, so, so small and there are numerous far easier ways to access the information with 100% certainty its that person and their name (and previous), DOB, address (and previous), phone number (and previous) , ethnicity, sex, and full medical history on one electionic record that hundreds of thousands of people have access to every day.

So no I wouldn't get upset or worried that a handful of MN staff may have access to your email, IP address and previous posts and you may have given your name or address for a competition as well.

The issue for me is not what has actually happened already (though that is bad enough), but the way MNHQ have been minimising both the act itself and the continued risk.

They only reported to the ICO and the police because members insisted on it. Before that they seemed to take Emma’s word for it that it was all just a bit of silly, youthful hijinks. Despite her unashamedly hostile tweets and links to trans activists.

Balls to that. ANY data breach has to be dealt with swiftly and harshly, assuming the worst possible scenario - not just to nip the current incident in the bud, but to dissuade any current employees from pulling similar tricks.

If Emma has stolen email addresses and other user information, she’d be looking at jail time, so obviously she’s not going to admit it. If Mumsnet isn’t going to investigate how much data she has stolen, or how the other employees are involved, then they might as well give them Carte Blanche to carry on.

This makes Mumsnet look weak on data protection, and vulnerable to further attacks.

It doesn’t actually matter if the current incident is limited to just the tweets (and I fervently hope that it is). The MNHQ response to it - apparently taking Emma’s word at face value and giving her the benefit of the doubt - is the problem. Even if Emma is not actually as malicious as she pretends, the next person might be, and they will be emboldened by all this.

Floof - because I work with people who have committed offences related to their beliefs and opinions (on both sides). So it's completely relevant.

Nofucks

"Which is why I'm saying if someone REALLY wanted your info, there are far easier ways to access it than MN."

OK I'm giving you the benefit of not being that up on political or technical issues.

What you fail to grasp is that this is politically and ideologically motivated. It's not some basement dweller from 4 Chan.

Your arguments are dud

Well, it's in the Guardian so there can be no sweeping under the carpet now.

Floof - because I work with people who have committed offences related to their beliefs and opinions (on both sides). So it's completely relevant.

So they're the ones everyone else needs to be afraid of, as opposed to being vulnerable.

Have you a link, spontaneousgiventime ?

ah, found it. www.theguardian.com/media/2018/apr/19/mumsnet-reports-itself-data-regulator-transgender-rights-row-ip-addresses-posted-twitter

Is it my imagination or is that article very slanted against mumsnet?

"I am so sorry - I do still really admire Mumsnet as a women’s organisation and a community

I don't believe you. You have shown an utter disregard for women's safety, privacy and wellbeing.

despite what has happened.

Do you mean 'despite what I did'?

I was just mistakenly trying to do what I thought was the right thing

I'd like to know exactly what it was you were trying to do and why you believed it was right.

as someone with very strong feelings on LGBTQ+ rights

Are you aware how many lesbians and bi women you have potentially harmed?

and in doing so, I did something very misguided and frankly awful.

And criminal. Don't forget criminal.

I have definitely learnt my lesson: not only about not tweeting in anger, but about the language I use, being careful what I say, the power of social media, and thinking about all the potential outcomes of my actions

Have you? You don't mention here anything about the crime you have committed. Have you learnt your lesson not to illegally steal data and disseminate it to people who would do women actual physical harm?

(not just the outcomes I intend)

What outcomes did you intend exactly? What did you want to happen to us?

As such, I am taking some time away from social media and will return with a hopefully more mature attitude.

Good. I am absolutely fucking raging about what you have done and also this mealy mouthed apology but I bear you no ill will. I have every faith that you are capable of growing the fuck up and my hope is you can do so without committing any further crimes or putting any more people at risk of harm.

I’d like to also apologise to any users who have felt hurt, attacked, or vulnerable due to my actions. I recognise that we do not agree on this issue, but I know the impact that my actions may have had on them and their mental health.

Well thanks for that but it's not just our feelings or mental health you have put at risk. We also care about our jobs and our physical safety.

We also care deeply about our ability to continue having this discussion safely. I will continue to be angry with you for a long while as I watch wise articulate MNers dereg and delete all their posts, leaving swiss cheese where once there was intelligent debate and discussion.

The best thing you can do now is be completely open with the police and ICO about exactly what data you have taken, what data you have shared, where and with whom.

Well doesn't that put a bow on it and make it all pretty. Massive minimization by the Guardian there. Really brought into the "oopsie, I'm just a silly little girl" apology. I'd like to see a decent report on this, rather than just copy and pasting.

More threats too. twitter.com/BeautifulArielM/status/987038496027267073 Not from EH but a so called friend.

Did Emma Healey write that press release to the Guardian?

They are obviously giving an authoritarian crook a platform.

Can anyone who can see all the posts in one go (I'm on mobile site so I cant) scan the mumsnet ones and check if anyone has actually said sorry? I could be wrong and they have but all I've really remembered is "it's not a big deal, we did nothing wrong and Emma has promised not to be naughty again."

Thanks.

None of our voices of concern either

spontaneousgiventimeText from Twitter in case anyone's blocked...... Not the most reliable source though
Conversation
Ariel Moss
Ariel Moss
@BeautifulArielM
I just spoke to someone who says they know Emma Healey. They said that there will be more terfs names released over the weekend. I cant wait to watch these cockroaches scramble! #mumsnet #emmahealey #transwomenarewomen #terfs

Can MN get an injunction against the former employee & her pals to prevent further data releases?