UKIP’s Lisa Duffy rises above the trolls
Can we offer a word of praise for Lisa Duffy, the unlovely would-be UKIP leader? The HuffPost says Dear Lisa is being mocked on the web.
The candidate with the most momentum seems to Lisa Duffy, who has secured a number of significant endorsements in the past few days…. While Duffy has attracted support from established party members, some members of Ukip’s youth wing – Young Independence – have been mocking the leadership contender.
Mocking. Not trolling? So says the Huffost, on which you can read such anti-trolling stories as:
Jess Phillips Reveals The Extent Of Trolling As Even More Women Are Forced Offline
We Often Forget Online Abuse Has Real World Repercussions
Why Female Journalists Are A Major Target For Internet Trolls (Sexism Has Something To Do With It)
London Metropolitan Police Service Take A Massive Step To Tackle Online Hate Crime
Is it only mockery when you don’t much like the person on the receiving end, but criminal trolling when you do? The HuffPost provides a few examples of the mocking:
In a closed Facebook group called ‘YI Faculty’, Oscar Gomez, a former local election candidate in North East Derbyshire, wrote: “Roll the fat fuck down the street and straight to the RSPCA. We can flog her off as an unwanted butchers dog.”
Another group member, Edwin Smith, wrote: “She rolls her sleeves up before assaulting another bucket of deep fried poultry.”
After a picture was posted of Duffy mocked up as Mr Blobby with the caption: “Mrs Duffy says Move on”, Smith wrote: “She needs to ‘move on’ to a treadmill.”
And how has Duffy responded to this trolling, which looks a lot like being rude, fattist, sexist (she’s being called a ‘dog’) and, lest it go unsaid, offensive?
Duffy’s campaign manager Jay Beecher said: “…These vile attacks on her are clearly just a childish attempt by some of her competitors who see her as the main contender. We’re busy fighting for a bright future for Ukip, so we’ll do what we’ve always done: rise above them”
Stick and stones, eh. Meanwhile, over at Labour, one MP has called in the police after being told to “get in the sea” on twitter. Oh, grow up.
Posted: 16th, August 2016 | In: Politicians, Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
