Shocking scale of online hate revealed

Human rights campaigners at Amnesty International are calling for Twitter to take action after revealing Kent Police dealt with more than 5,000 reports of online violence towards women.

The force has received 5,207 calls since last year - including 61 death threats.

The figures, shared exclusively with the KM Group, are revealed for the first time this week by Amnesty, which submitted a Freedom of Information request forcing constabularies across Britain to release details.

It is now urging Twitter to do more to protect women victims - accusing the social media giant of not doing enough when violence and abuse is reported.

According to Amnesty, online violence attempts to shame, intimidate or degrade an individual on a digital platform.

Examples can include written abuse, stalking, threatening behaviour or the publishing of explicit materials relating to the victim.

In September last year, Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield told the House of Commons how she’d stopped using Facebook because of the vitriol aimed at her.

Speaking about the A m n e s ty st a t i s t i c s on Monday, she said: “These figures are worrying and disappointing, but sadly not a surprise.

“Lots of women I know, in both public and private life, experience abuse online often including threats of violence.

“This behaviour has no place in a modern society and I universally condemn it and will continue to call it out when and where I see it.”

Amnesty’s findings across the county list 2,992 incidents of harassment in the year 2017-18 and 2,005 this year to date.

In the same period there were 73 reports of stalking and 61 threats to kill.

One such tragic case is that of University of Kent student Molly Mclaren who was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend last year.

Wouldham resident Joshua Stimpson had posted derogatory messages about the 23-year-old on social media when she ended their relationship.

He went on to fatally attack her in the car park of Chatham’s Dockside Outlet shopping centre.

After he was sentenced to life imprisonment in February, Molly’s parents, Doug and Jo Mclaren, spoke publicly about the need to raise awareness of stalking.

In a statement, they said: “In light of this case, we feel there needs to be more awareness over the dangers and the need for peo- ple to report any concerns to the police.”

The figures support its previous claims social media platforms are failing to protect women’s rights.

The charity’s director Kate Allen said: “Thousands of women are feeling so threatened by online violence and abuse they’re having to ask the police for help, and these figures are likely to just scratch the surface of what is a much larger problem.

“Amnesty’s previous research has shown for far too long social media companies, like Twitter, have been a space where women

can too easily be confronted with death or rape threats, and where their genders, ethnicities and sexual orientations are under attack.

“But the online space must be made a safer place where women can express themselves freely without fear of violence.”