James Kirkup Spectator article on Joanna Cherry SNP MP, 'At last, an MP brave enough to say: Twitter hates women'

[R0wantrees]

(extract)
"Twitter matters in the debate about sex and gender because, at a time when some media outlets and some political representatives are a bit reluctant to engage in a full, rounded debate, Twitter is for some people the only place to talk. So it really matters when Twitter allows the nasty intimidation of women who express views that some people don’t like. And it really matters when Twitter bans from its platform women who express such views – or just state facts that some people find inconvenient.

Both of those things are happening, and happening routinely. Nasty abuse of women who question the mantra that ‘trans women are women’ – or simply ask questions about the implications for law and policy of that stance – is commonplace, with grim consequences. (continues)

And because Twitter, sadly, matters, this stuff needs to be debated and scrutinised. Which is why this article isn’t really about Twitter and its awfulness, but about a politician who has done something rather wonderful.

That politician is Joanna Cherry QC, an SNP MP and member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. It was at that committee that Cherry recently said ‘f*k’ and ‘c*t’ a lot, and in so doing did her job as a parliamentarian in an arena where many others have failed.

The context was a hearing where a Twitter representative was giving evidence about the site’s role in the intimidation of politicians.

You can watch the whole thing here , and I recommend that you do.

You’ll see an experienced lawyer calmly marshalling evidence of Twitter’s lopsided, sexist approach to the gender debate, and an executive floundering in the face of that evidence. (The swearing, to be clear, was Cherry quoting the sort of stuff she gets sent routinely online.) Among the significant moments of the session was Cherry extracting the concession that ‘Terf’ (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) is, of course, a term of sexist abuse. It also appears that Twitter, like too many other organisations, doesn’t understand that ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ are two different things in UK law, and that the distinction matters, especially for women." (continues)

blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/05/at-last-an-mp-brave-enough-to-say-twitter-hates-women/

see thread
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/a3574580-Parliamentary-committee-Joanna-Cherry-SNP-MP-QC-challenge-to-Twitter-representative-about-abuse-of-women-terf-why-sex-is-not-protected-characteristic

Do watch Joanna Cherry at yesterday's Parliamentary Human Rights Committee & James Kirkup's full article is really worth reading

Twitter
Joanna Cherry mobile.twitter.com/joannaccherry
James Kirkup mobile.twitter.com/jameskirkup
Helen Lewis twitter.com/helenlewis

Thanks Rowan. I will watch this later.

bump

Thanks Rowan. Good article in the spectator and Joanna is brilliant standing up to the twitter woman - who really was pretty useless.

That was. Great clip to watch. Joanna was succinct and clear, didn't get bogged down. The responses from the twitter representative was poor and she made it clear they see no difference between sex and gender 🤔

Oh Joanna is inspirational. I often wonder about these new internet platforms, they all seem to have been set up by "odd" young men, I mean look at how facebook was started as some sort of rating site for girls or something. And now they have a global reach and yet no one has ever examined or questioned if this is a good thing. And if you do you are shouted down with ridiculous comments about "progress"

I often wonder about these new internet platforms, they all seem to have been set up by "odd" young men, I mean look at how facebook was started as some sort of rating site for girls or something. And now they have a global reach and yet no one has ever examined or questioned if this is a good thing. And if you do you are shouted down with ridiculous comments about "progress"

Cf Dana McCallum/ Twitter

Reuters October 2014
(extract)
"LOS ANGELES, Oct 7 (Reuters) - A senior Twitter engineer hailed as one of the most important gay or transgender people in the tech industry was sentenced on Tuesday to three years probation after pleading guilty to false imprisonment and domestic violence charges, San Francisco prosecutors said.

Dana Contreras, known professionally as Dana McCallum, was also ordered to attend 52 weeks of domestic violence classes and stay away from her wife, the victim in the case, as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

Under that agreement prosecutors agreed to drop more serious rape charges against Contreras, 33, who was arrested in January after the attack, said Max Szabo, a spokesman for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office." (continues)
www.reuters.com/article/usa-rape-sanfrancisco/corrected-twitter-engineer-lgbt-activist-pleads-guilty-to-domestic-violence-idUSL2N0S300920141008

further background 'Women are Human' June 2018 article:
(extract)
"San Franscisco, California – Dana Contreras is a prominent transgender community activist who was accused of forcefully entering a home and perpetrating a vicious rape.

At the time of the incident, Dana Contreras, who uses the name Dana McCallum professionally, was a senior engineer at Twitter, a company [DM] had worked for since 2010.

In January 2014, [McCallum] submitted a guilty plea to one count of domestic violence with corporal injury to the spouse, as well as to one count of false imprisonment.

McCallum "was commonly acknowledged as “one of the most important gay or transgender people in the tech industry.” Business Insider recognized [Dana] McCallum as “one of the geniuses behind Twitter.”
womenarehuman.com/trans-identified-twitter-engineer-rapes-his-wife-dana-mccallum/

Another great article from James K (thanks again if you're reading!), and a great performance from Joanna Cherry! If you haven't watched the clip it's really worth it (haven't got the link handy, but it's in the other thread and I think maybe in the article too?).

Thanks for this.

Thanks to J Kirkup too. Tremendous work. What an ally.

I am sure in the clip twitter say the poster shut the f t has been banned for breaking rules yet i have seen it about a dozen times this morningin a 20 min period on twitter, half that time was on dd school twitter which is refreshingly clear for nasties.
I for one, hate twitter now, i feel maybe it's time to walk away. Person doing it is meaningless thousands doing it will highlight the issues.

a great performance from Joanna Cherry! If you haven't watched the clip it's really worth it (haven't got the link handy, but it's in the other thread and I think maybe in the article too?).

Its embedded in the article & the OP.
Link here:

www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/0364bfc3-5adc-4aef-99bd-48c68daacc38

So just to be clear, (I read the article) because there are different pronouns used in relation to the person, Dana is a male person, who identifies as a woman and as a male person was married. As a person identifying as a woman, Dana raped their wife.

I was confused as to how a woman could rape her wife (in the legal definition of rape, not by the use of implements such as a bat - just in case some helpful person was going to point that out to me).

Twitter Lady in the white jacket very uncomfortable, much umming and erring etc, but sticks to her line that 'gender and gender identity' and not 'sex' is protected because the United Nations says so.

(The UN says no such thing.)

Twitter Lady in the white jacket very uncomfortable, much umming and erring etc, but sticks to her line that 'gender and gender identity' and not 'sex' is protected because the United Nations says so.

from Parliament TV:
Witnesses: Rebecca Stimson, UK Head of Public Policy, Facebook, and Katy Minshall, Head of UK Government, Public Policy and Philanthropy, Twitter

I was wondering if Twitter has an office in the UK, and what their internal policies are. Because they cant ignore The Equality Act just because they don't like it.
Well obviously they can. But there can be consequenses.

As for the UN;
''The international human rights legal framework contains international instruments to combat specific forms of discrimination, including discrimination against
indigenous peoples
migrants, minorities
people with disabilities
discrimination against women
racial and religious discrimination
or discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.''

www.un.org/ruleoflaw/thematic-areas/human-rights/equality-and-non-discrimination/

Professor Rosa Freedman's speech on International Human Rights Law at For Women Scotland meeting this year:

(extract)
"There is now clear understanding that the risks faced by members of such groups means that they require specific protection in law and practice. Although of course just because such an understanding exists, and just because States formally accept obligations by ratifying treaties, does not mean that changes on the ground are forthcoming. But it gives those groups tools for lobbying for effective change, which is at the heart of human rights advocacy and work.
In international human rights law the word ‘women’ has been defined as referring to biological sex. This was the definition in various international human rights treaties and discussions, including recently in 1998 in the Rome Statute creating the International Criminal Court where it makes it explicit that the word ‘gender’ refers to the two biological sex classes of male and female.

Gender has been defined as social constructs based on the different ways that the two sexes are viewed and treated in societies, including laws and practices. Some forms of discrimination against
women might be based on their sex – for example denying access to reproductive rights, or child brides. Others may be based on gendered constructs, such as denying girls the right to education
based on society viewing the two sexes differently, or violence against women against girls.

The international human rights law framework and mechanisms focusing on women provide specific protections for women to access their fundamental rights based on the long history of violence and discrimination against women.

Separately, in international human rights law there have been some attempts to protect sexual orientation and gender identity minorities – the UN umbrella term of LGBT. Almost all of those attempts are done separately to the protection of women’s rights. Sexual orientation and gender identity minorities are a separate vulnerable group, as are children, persons with disabilities, racial minorities, and so on.
Those attempts are frequently blocked at the UN level by the 77 countries that still criminalise, discriminate against, or oppress LGBT persons. And many efforts to protect the fundamental rights
of those people have failed as a result.

Of course, all individuals have fundamental rights by virtue of being born human. And those rights include non-discrimination and dignity. The denial of fundamental rights to LGBT persons around the
world is deeply concerning, and it is clear that there is a long fight ahead to protect sexual orientation and gender identity minorities." (continues)
forwomen.scot/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Rosa-Freedman-FWS.pdf

Fabulous. Laughed out loud when the first offensive tweet had been mysteriously deleted the night before the enquiry after 3 prominent women complained. Just a coincidence apparently. A tweet showing a woman being flayed alive - what should happen to TERFs - is not taken down while a woman repeating factual evidence of male violence against women is. Horrible horrible misogyny.

Excellent session. Am watching it now. Joanna is absolutely amazing!

Apparently Twitter don't allow pile-ons

Great clip to watch. Joanna Cherry very impressive although she did trot out that tired old line about “abuse coming from both sides” of the debate. I’m still waiting for an example of abuse which has come from gender critical women which even comes close to matching die in a fire etc. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen any at all

Twitter woman was totally floundering. She seemed very sure of herself that gender and gender identity was exactly the same as the protected characteristic of sex under UK law, yet couldn’t seem to answer any questions about why those revolting tweets had been left to stand

Interesting policy from Twitter: It is unacceptable to say "Eff Off Bitch!" to women in the public eye but not to the ordinary woman in the street.

BBC article, "Twitter 'bans women against trans ideology', say feminists"
30 May 2018
(extract)
"Twitter is banning women who "speak out against the dangerous dogma of trans ideology", a feminist group has said.

In a letter to Twitter director Martha Lane Fox, Fair Play for Women says the company is allowing "a concerted attack on women's free speech". (continues)

Fair Play for Women describes itself as a group of "ordinary women" who argue that "in the rush to reform transgender laws" women's voices will not be listened to.

It says Twitter users have been banned for stating "basic, incontrovertible biological facts" such as saying men are not women.

Their letter links to comments, that it says has led to people being banned from the site: (see screenshot)

Transsexual writer Miranda Yardley said she was banned from Twitter for stating that Green Party LGBT spokesperson Aimee Challenor, a trans woman, is a man.

Writing on her blog she said: "According to the rules of Twitter it is now hateful conduct to call someone who is a man, a man.

"The implication of this is that the concept of proscribed speech, things we are now not allowed to say, now extends to the truth. This is fundamentally illiberal."

Fair Play for Women also said women receive abuse for talking "about their biology" - including being threatened with violence and referred to as Terfs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists)." (continues)
www.bbc.com/news/uk-44288431

28/05/2018 Fairplay For Women Open letter to Martha Lane Fox:

"This is a letter to Martha Lane Fox, the entrepreneur and feminist who sits on the board of Twitter. We write to her in the wake of mass deletions from Twitter of gender critical feminists who in many cases have had their IP addresses and phone numbers blocked so that they cannot re-join Twitter.

Transactivists have recently stepped up a concerted campaign to get feminists banned from every platform where they can speak out against the dangerous dogma of trans ideology and stand up for women’s rights.

Women are being told they have violated Twitter rules against hateful conduct by simply stating biological and legal facts. Women must not be shamed or silenced for speaking the reality." (continues)
fairplayforwomen.com/martha/

Miranda Yardley (who is transsexual) article:
"Why I Am Permanently Banned From Twitter And Why This Should Make You Worry"
POSTED ON 24TH MAY 2018
(extract)
"It’s interesting the rules about what is hateful appear not to extend to one glaringly obvious category – biological sex. And it is this that reveals the real agenda that lies behind this curtailment of freedom of speech and the ability to state the truth:

This is not about me. This is part of a much larger, broader attack on the rights of women.

If women are now no longer able to publicly acknowledge that an adult human male is a man, this takes away from women the ability to describe their own lived lives: they can no longer use meaningful language to describe their interactions with members of the dominant sex class:

Women lose the language and ability to differentiate between themselves and the dominant sex class;
Women lose the language and ability to describe themselves even as women;
Women lose the language, right and ability to describe the perpetrators and acts of sexual violence;
Women lose the right to challenge the sexual enslavement and exploitation of members of their own sex class.
We are in a world of proscribed truth and compelled thought. Whatever your political stance, this should should strike you cold with terror." (continues)
mirandayardley.com/en/i-permanently-banned-twitter-make-worry/

Threads:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3262965-Good-article-today-BBC-on-the-twitter-ban-on-womens-free-speech-on-trans-issues

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3262686-BBC-Report-Twitter-bans-women-against-trans-ideology-say-feminists

Nicola Williams from Fairplay for Women:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3263271-Nicola-Williams-was-FANTASTIC-on-R4-just-now

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3258983-Miranda-Yardley-permanently-banned-from-Twitter

Miranda Yardley & Aimee Challenor interviewed for BBC:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3291840-BBC-World-Service-Programme-A-Transgender-Twitter-Row

I've never watched Joanna Cherry, but that clip was exceptional. Calm, clear, professional, and unwilling to be fobbed off. You can tell she's a QC from her questioning style, it's wonderful for demonstrating just how ludicrous the policies and their application are. Seeing such an eloquent and intelligent woman making a stand for the rights of women is fantastic.

Thank you Joanna, and thank you James for yet another excellent article.

It will be hard to forget that women have been badly let down by politicians of every single hue.

It is incredible that we can count the number of Westminster MPs who've asked questions and defended the female sex, on two fingers.

From the start, JK has focussed on how MPs have dodged their responsibilities shamelessly. They have turned their backs on women and I won't forget that - James Kirkup keeps reminding me and I thank him.

That's quite something - radical feminist arguments being repeated in the heart of our parliament - sex not gender, rapists are men, the overwhelming majority of violence is committed by men. "What's wrong with saying that?" asked Joanna "it's a fact". It sure is, sister. And asking them the sex balance of their moderation teams and whether that might have something to do with their constant mistreatment of women on their platform.

Twitter putting up a woman to represent their woman-hating organisation was like the rapist getting himself a female barrister - a cynical but transparent attempt at getting female cover for male wrongdoing.

Thank you for posting this Rowantrees. It's made my day.

.

The Joint Committe on Human Rights is chaired by a woman, Harriet Harman and has 12 members, 8 of whom are women. It shows.