I\u2019M GOING TO FIND YOU AND KILL YOU.<\/p>\n
I WILL RAPE YOUR WIFE AND MURDER YOUR CHILDREN.<\/p>\n
YOU SHOULD DO THE WORLD A FAVOR AND COMMIT SUICIDE.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not hard to find violent online threats these days. In fact, it was much harder for me to make up examples without the filthiest language humanity can conjure. Whether it\u2019s a sports player who misses a critical play<\/a>, a programmer speaking honestly about misogyny in the tech industry<\/a>, or a woman of color pointing out convergence of sexism and racism in society<\/a>, critics\u2014often people with no discernible stake in the subject\u2014spew the vilest threats and insults. It\u2019s not always men, and it\u2019s not always anonymous.<\/p>\n The cost is too high. This behavior drives valuable voices out of the public conversation, along with the perspectives they might bring to important discussions. We lose their stories, their insights, even solutions for situations that damage us all.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat can we do, though?\u201d people ask. \u201cIt all comes down to freedom of speech.\u201d In this, as has been pointed out by many people, most folks are mistaken. The First Amendment to the US Constitution only guarantees the right to speak freely against the government<\/i>, without fear of arrest or other retribution from the State. Freedom of speech in no way guarantees freedom from consequence<\/i>. Sure, we\u2019ve expanded this right to free expression to cover some of the most grotesque public statements, such as those by the Westboro Baptist Church or the Ku Klux Klan. But people have learned that the best way to exercise their own rights against them is to to create effective counter-protests. From the Angels whose wings block out the sight of hateful signs<\/a> to miles-long biker escorts for soldiers\u2019 funerals<\/a>, we\u2019ve found ways to allow hateful speech but deny its effectiveness.<\/p>\n So that\u2019s what I\u2019m proposing for online abusers. Every person who sees someone use threatening, terrorizing speech online should take a moment to reply, message, or tweet a simple phrase questioning that behavior. If just ten people responded in this way every time, to each user they see engaging in uncivil behavior, it would send the clear message that the Internet is not blindly permissive or a safe shield for violent behavior.<\/p>\n It does not need to be profane\u2014\u201cWhat is wrong with you?\u201d It does not need to attack them personally\u2014insulting their race, gender, parentage, or sexual orientation only lowers you to their level. It does not need to perpetuate harmful stereotypes of mental illness\u2014\u201cIf you think saying these things is okay, you\u2019re totally wrong\u201d is just as effective as \u201cYou must be a psychopath\u201d or \u201cYou must be crazy\u201d.<\/p>\n There\u2019s only one catch: You can\u2019t pick and choose when to do this. You can\u2019t wait until it\u2019s someone whose politics you disagree with; we must be even more critical of our allies as we are our enemies. You can\u2019t leave certain areas alone, with the excuse that \u201cthat\u2019s the culture there\u201d. If people are willing to say horrid things in one place, there\u2019s a high likelihood they\u2019re willing to do it elsewhere. And you can\u2019t wait for other people to do this for you. If you want online spaces to be better, it has to start with you.<\/p>\n Good people can deliver a Denial of Service attack on people who cannot follow basic rules of human-heartedness. With enough people doing this, not only will there be plenty of voices against every hateful speaker, but there\u2019ll also be plenty of the emotional support that\u2019s needed when you look darkness full in the face. It\u2019s not a perfect solution, but it couldn\u2019t be much easier to start. If you\u2019re receiving threats, share them publicly, so we know who to respond to. Don\u2019t be afraid to ask for help, and give it when requested. Remember your own compassion when you do.<\/p>\n Maybe I\u2019m sounding too much like Pollyanna here, but the Internet doesn\u2019t have to be a cesspool. So many of us have met wonderful people who enrich our world there. Let\u2019s use that community to support those who suffer its inhumanity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019M GOING TO FIND YOU AND KILL YOU. I WILL RAPE YOUR WIFE AND MURDER YOUR CHILDREN. YOU SHOULD DO THE WORLD A FAVOR AND COMMIT SUICIDE. It\u2019s not hard to find violent online threats these days. In fact, it was much harder for me to make up examples without the filthiest language humanity can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[214],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-studies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=940"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":941,"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940\/revisions\/941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/profbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}