United Kingdom: Journalist Geri Scott targeted by online attacks after her television appearance
November 27, 2020, Yorkshire – Geri Scott, the Yorkshire Post’s Westminster correspondent, was targeted by online harassment when she appeared on the Andrew Marr Show TV programme on BBC One. The Coalition For Women In Journalism denounces these vicious attacks against Geri. We urge British authorities to identify the attackers and ensure the safety of journalists.
According to Hold the Front Page (HTFP), Geri received 52 Instagram follow requests from men after appearing on the Andrew Marr Show. Geri was targeted by a harmful online trolling campaign after the TV show aired. The attackers sent her abusive messages and even rape threats.
Geri posted one example on her Twitter account after she appeared on The Papers on BBC News last Monday night.
Speaking to HTFP, Geri said, “Admittedly the message I tweeted about was pretty low level, I know many people get it much worse and I have before myself, but I tweeted because I’m pretty sick and tired of people searching for my personal accounts to do this.” She explained the attackers also found her personal Facebook account and harassed her using lewd language.
This is not the only example of the harassment that women journalists face. Since last year, award-winning crime reporter, Patricia Devlin, has also been tormented with online smear campaigns. She received death threats in October 2019 via messages to her personal Facebook account. The threats against the journalist included intimidation of raping her newborn son. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has subsequently failed to effectively investigate the vicious threats. The journalist even filed a complaint with the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman for PSNI's failure to investigate the threats.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism has been documenting the hostile online trolling against women journalists. CFWIJ repeatedly calls upon social media platforms and authorities to safeguard press freedom. We urge these platforms to develop policies that combat such online harassment to ensure the safety of women journalists.