Karen White case - how MN can help build political pressure for change

[PotsofJam]

Jess Phillips MP has commented on the Karen White case, saying anyone convicted of VAWG should be excluded from the women’s prison estate.

See her tweet here:
twitter.com/jessphillips/status/1038350610163265537?s=21
This could be the start of a media-political process. Jess has raised a question here. Do other MPs agree with her? Does the Government agree?
Thanks to the wonder of Twitter, email and the rest, you can help make them answer that question.
So if you’re on Twitter and have some time to spare this weekend, why not send Jess’s tweet to some MPs and ask:

Do you agree with the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Domestic Violence that prison service rules should be changed to exclude all VAWG offenders from the women’s estate, no matter what gender they identify as?

WPUK statement:

"Slurs Slander & Libel
In the course of the last year Woman’s Place UK (WPUK) has been under almost relentless attack both on social media and in real life.

We believe that many of the comments made about us are defamatory and could qualify as libel and/or slander.

We are often encouraged by our supporters to take legal action to challenge these slurs and defend our reputation, including when they have been made about individual members of WPUK. On occasion, we have done this by sending pre-action legal letters and this has usually resulted in the withdrawal or deletion of the defamation.

We are very grateful to our supporters in the legal field who have advised us pro bono on these cases and continue to do so.

However, the pursuit of a legal case is fraught with problems (not least the time and cost) and we have often chosen to ignore comments made by those petty individuals trying to deflect people away from our campaign. To tackle every scurrilous tweet or post would take us away from the important work of winning our five demands.

We are all juggling other responsibilities and simply don’t have the time or energy to challenge every slur through the law.

We are lucky to have so many supporters who often challenge these slurs on our behalf and use our record to demand retractions.

We are incredibly grateful to you all.

We believe that, on this issue, this approach is as – if not more – effective than lengthy, costly court proceedings which would give our detractors more glory than they merit.

We never rule legal action out and where we have taken steps we have been rewarded. But we think our campaign is best won in the court of public opinion not a court of law. And, with your support that is where we continue to focus our time and our energy."

4th September 2018

womansplaceuk.org/slurs-slander-libel/

Did the OP ever reappear?

I hope I’m wrong and that this isn’t a JP initiated thread, and I’ll happily apologise for my earlier rant if the OP returns and refutes.

That Sue Pascoe tweet is awful.

Up until now, according to advanced search, that is PotsofJam's only message on MN: www.mumsnet.com/SearchArch?mustmatch=&dontmatch=&nickname=PotsofJam&src_displ_option=s_m_d_m&fromDate=&toDate=&topicmode=All&availtops=-1

If this is one of JP's volunteer/staff, they need better training in how to use social media without irritating members of the platform. - Of course, we could it's one of the dudebros paving the way to de-selecting JP by making her and her team seem clueless. :)

Well, if OP is one of JP's staff, one would hope that the feedback has been filtered back.

Jess: you're not fooling anybody. We saw your work about trans prisoners on the Parliamentary Committee. We weren't impressed then and we are even less impressed now. We see you trying to pretend it wasn't you. It was you. Be accountable.

@LangCleg We see you trying to pretend it wasn't you. It was you. Be accountable.

That's it, isn't it. If you hold a clear position, have the gumption to stand by it and explain why. We may not agree, but that's life.

Don't flip flop like a fish on a hook trying to kid everyone you're their mate. It is far, far worse and far, far sneakier than having the honest courage of your convictions.

Yes, Shots. Exactly. It annoys me doubly about Jess Stab-em In The Front Phillips. She actively cultivates an image of bolshy working class woman, unafraid to say what she thinks. It's bollocks.

So there are currently lots of efforts to label a woman's place a hate group. So far WPUK haven't taken legal action. But there will come a point that they might well NEED to.

I've just seen this pop up on Jess's feed.

Take note of the implications for MN or for any closed GC groups. This is important.

Lucy Powell MP @LucyMPowell
Here’s a preview of my Bill tomorrow which calls for greater responsibility and accountability of online forums. The law has not kept up with their power. Thanks to my co-sponsors from across Parliament for their support

Jess Phillips @jessphillips
Proud to sponsor Lucy's bill

www.theguardian.com/technology/commentisfree/2018/sep/10/online-echo-chambers-hate-facebook-bill
Why I am seeking to stamp out online echo chambers of hate

Online echo chambers are normalising and allowing extremist views to go viral unchallenged. These views are spread as the cheap thrill of racking up Facebook likes drives behaviour and reinforces a binary worldview. Some people are being groomed unwittingly as unacceptable language is treated as the norm. Others have a more sinister motive.

and

Through Facebook groups (essentially forums), extremists can build large audiences. There are many examples of groups that feature anti-Muslim or antisemitic content daily, in an environment which, because critics are removed from the groups, normalises these hateful views. If you see racist images, videos and articles in your feed but not the opposing argument, you might begin to think those views are acceptable and even correct. If you already agree with them, you might be motivated to act.

What could POSSIBLY go wrong with this?

The most ridiculous thing about it, is also that this is COMPLETELY unworkablein practice.

Its fine to go after Facebook, but it misses the point completely that OTHER PLATFORMS ARE AVAILABLE.

I also would LOVE to know how this is compatible with private twitter accounts and DO enlighten me as to how this works with twitter mass block lists? You know, the entire point of these filters being TO CREATE ECHO CHAMBERS?????

Jess, if your team are reading this thread, please do tell me HOW THE HELL YOU MANAGE TO USE TWITTER AND NOT UNDERSTAND THAT THIS BILL IS FUCKING FARCIAL DRIVEL WHICH WILL BE USED MALICIOUSLY OR COULD BE USED FOR EQUALLY DUBIOUS ENDS BY THE STATE?

I am really failing to see how this bill which seems to be aimed solely at Facebook, is going to improve anything.

I might understand your naivety or stupidity over this, if you were not a regular twitter user like a lot of Conservative Dinosaurs. But you are not. I might understand it if there wasn't a shed load of publicity over the Green Party debacle going on at the moment. But I'm pretty damn sure you are aware of that one too.

The worst thing is, I bet the Conservative Party will be loving the idea of this bill and it'll get waved through parliament, because you are all too bloody dense to use your brain cells - especially when it comes to social media.

Yes, we get it. 'The internet is bad', is a really attractive policy but by god are you all missing the point about echo chambers.