Let Twitter Burn
Jul. 6th, 2023 10:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingThis post contains a link to a tweet with a brief bit of context. I want to put a strong content warning for online harassment, as well as a description of a serious medical condition.
This cycle keeps happening. And y'all never learn.
https://twitter.com/lizcourserants/status/1676819717657440256
What happened is that a popular online artist who occasionally draws mature illustrations of popular fandom characters became a target of the anti-fandom crowd. The people harassing him managed to get a copy of his medical records, which stated that he had one of his legs amputated because of cancer. A 15-year-old Twitter user interpreted this to mean that he "has an amputation fetish" and "found a doctor to perform an unnecessary amputation." They posted this misinformation in a quote tweet of a sweet illustration that he made of various mobility aids.
The harassment the artist suffered was so intense that he deactivated his account. What followed was a backlash against the 15-year-old who made the call-out post, and everything went to shit.
In conclusion, my dream fix for Twitter would be to require everyone who signs up for the site to be at least 18 years old. I don't think 15-year-old children should have the power to ruin someone's life like this, and I also don't think a 15-year-old child should have the capacity to set themself up as the target of backlash harassment.
On a more personal note, this is why I'm afraid to write or publish anything remotely resembling YA fiction. It's terrifying to think that a teenage Twitter user having a bad day could destroy your entire professional career by claiming that you're "fetishizing" an aspect of your own identity.
This cycle keeps happening. And y'all never learn.
https://twitter.com/lizcourserants/status/1676819717657440256
What happened is that a popular online artist who occasionally draws mature illustrations of popular fandom characters became a target of the anti-fandom crowd. The people harassing him managed to get a copy of his medical records, which stated that he had one of his legs amputated because of cancer. A 15-year-old Twitter user interpreted this to mean that he "has an amputation fetish" and "found a doctor to perform an unnecessary amputation." They posted this misinformation in a quote tweet of a sweet illustration that he made of various mobility aids.
The harassment the artist suffered was so intense that he deactivated his account. What followed was a backlash against the 15-year-old who made the call-out post, and everything went to shit.
In conclusion, my dream fix for Twitter would be to require everyone who signs up for the site to be at least 18 years old. I don't think 15-year-old children should have the power to ruin someone's life like this, and I also don't think a 15-year-old child should have the capacity to set themself up as the target of backlash harassment.
On a more personal note, this is why I'm afraid to write or publish anything remotely resembling YA fiction. It's terrifying to think that a teenage Twitter user having a bad day could destroy your entire professional career by claiming that you're "fetishizing" an aspect of your own identity.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-08 12:04 pm (UTC)I agree that the internet was definitely a different place even ten years ago. When I got on LiveJournal and DeviantArt in 2008, there were unhinged people engaging in harassment, but the amount of damage they were able to inflict on themselves and others was much more limited. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to be a fifteen-year-old on Twitter.