TERFblocker. How does it work?

[NotZenEnough]

I only fell down this rabbit hole about a week ago after seeing a Graham Linehan tweet about the hideous Chanellor case. Anyway, I set up a new twitter profile as I don't have the guts to say what I want using my own name because I'm afraid or abuse from TRA. So I am following a host of feminists vocal the subject of self identification
I tried to look at the Edward Lord twitter thread linked in the other MN post but am blocked. I have never looked at that profile before. Is it possible that my name has been added to a block list already?
How does it work? Is it a matter of someone just manually blocking people as they are added to the site?

Yes it's quite possible that someone has added you to a blocklist based on your support for specific people.

In reading posts at FWR and following links to certain Twitter accounts I recently discovered that I've been blocked by at least 3 people (all TRAs).

I've never tweeted, retweeted or even liked, anything remotely political or GC.
I do follow a couple of GC accounts and assume that's why I'm blocked by some TRAs.

I have a couple of dormant twitter accounts I use for viewing only which gets around being on the block list on my main account.

I’m the same . I have only ever tweeted about my (very uncontroversial) hobby but I’ve also been blocked by some of these TRA accounts, I assume because of some of the GC people I follow.

Edward Lord’s twitter account is an utterly ghastly mixture of tedium and sanctimoniousness. It’s probably a good thing, for the sake of keeping your breakfast down, that you aren’t accessing it. It made me feel quite queasy.

Me too Optimist.

I've never tweeted, re-tweeted or liked any posts but looks like I'm blocked as well!

I wonder how long before just following Graham Linehan will be enough to get you blocked? It isn’t yet, because I follow him, and am not blocked as far as I can tell. But I suspect it will be soon, the more vocal he gets!

They think it protects them from abusive tweets and “doxxing”.
In actual fact, it isolates them from anyone who might provide an alternative view.
Rather like an abuser will attempt to isolate a victim from family and friends.
Personally, I’d prefer to have control of who I block, not allow a third party to do my thinking for me.

As soon as you create an account, block Terfblocker and any others you think might be doing the same thing. Then they won't see you during their trawls.

Same happened to me. I set up a twitter account in my own name years and years ago and I rarely used it. I think I only ever tweeted two or three times. I recently followed a gender critical feminist, without thinking, and within a few days was blocked from lots of TRA sites.

Sometimes I am really bothered because I use my own name and it would be easy to find me but sometimes I think they can't hurt me and I refuse to close my twitter account because of it.

Sorry to ask a stupid question but what exactly is Terfblocker? Is it a list of Twitter names? Could I see it? Or is it just something that TRAs pass to each other? Presumably if I'd called myself lesbianrealname they'd know I'm lesbian which I suppose is sensitive data under the Data Protection rules. (I'm not a lesbian but using that as an example).

Also have they ever actually doxxed anyone?

Having just said I won't close my Twitter account I realise this is bothering me. Maybe I'll close my Twitter account and open a new one with NotTerfNorCis's advice.

TERFblocker is a list of people with gender critical views or people who have been flagged up as linked to or followers of people with gender critical views. You can subscribe to the blocklist to automatically block all these people.

Yes the person or people responsible for this account (but I believe it's just one) have actually doxxed and harassed women on Twitter and other sites.

Some of the mass 'terf' blocks have a function which automatically blocks accounts that follow a certain number of accounts already on the list. I understand that individuals can adjust the setting??

There have been discussions about whether this may be an issue with regards GDPR.
May 2018, see page 8:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/a3260432-The-Shame-of-Twitter

also discussion from March 2018:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3200394-Calling-lawyers-and-data-protection-gurus

I've no idea which thread it is in or if it was a link to something on Twitter but there was a screenshot of some of the Twitter accounts on the block list for one of these things.

Among the individual user names were businesses like Starbucks. Starbucks who must be in the literal business of customer service by following some people back to facilitate comments etc. However, the way some algorithms work, somehow they reached an absolute rather than relative number of GC people they follow pretty quickly.

Some men satisfy their hunter gatherer instincts by scouring the internet for women's names and either stalk them or put them on a block list they share among their fellow misogynists.
When I first joined twitter I discovered I was blocked by a surprising number of misogynists I had never heard of before as well as a few I had.
The good news is that they do not target me for harassment because they already blocked me.