#MeToo anniversary and the court of public opinion
When the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke a year ago on Friday, actress Alice Evans decided to tell her own story
everywhere were able to tell their stories. But while Weinstein had, or has, at least 100 accusers, and witnesses to boot, as the #MeToo frenzy took off people with fake names and avatars (and perhaps grudges to bear) began throwing virtual stink bombs into the public arena.
And this is where I feel we’re stuck. The criminal court of law, with its promise that a person is innocent until proven guilty, has gone by the wayside. What we have now is Twitter and Facebook, the court of public opinion where anybody, for any reason, can ruin a reputation forever.
Just read any thread on Twitter to see how this works. Not every witness is credible. This system is going to catch the wrongly accused, along with the justly accused.
What to do? Well, we need to stop making it a partisan affair, for a start. It’s not a man’s problem. Or a women’s problem. If Hollywood is the microcosm from whence this discussion began, then I can say that, as much as I have come up against men who have made it clear I won’t get past them without giving them what they want, I have also come up against women who have said I won’t get past them simply because they don’t like me.
Anywhere you have a system of power, you have the opportunity for abuse. And the internet has given us the power to speak out against that abuse. Because of anonymity; because of the sheer numbers involved.
All we’ve done so far is open the door and let people in. People without power now have a voice. Let’s use it. Let’s sit down at the table with kindness, and work out where to go from here. – The Daily Telegraph