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    The GaysianRebecca "Burt" Rose
    9/30/14 10:04am

    GOOD.

    FYI Internet trolls, just because you have free speech laws, and you can say whatever you want, it does not free you from criticism and the consequences that result.

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      The QueenThe Gaysian
      9/30/14 10:08am

      Also,this happened in the UK, which does not have the same protection of free speech as the US.

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      GeenabeenaThe Queen
      9/30/14 10:33am

      Threats ought to be and are exempt from free speech protections in some areas.

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    usedtobepurpleredRebecca "Burt" Rose
    9/30/14 9:52am
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      Nefret Emersonusedtobepurplered
      9/30/14 10:17am

      Honestly the best and most concise response.

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      IFindYourLackOfPantsDisturbingusedtobepurplered
      9/30/14 11:01am

      You beat me to it.

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    KalevRebecca "Burt" Rose
    9/30/14 10:08am

    Rape threats over the design of a bank note. I keep repeating this fact to myself; I see the Tweet. Yet my brain keeps sending back this news bite, stamped "WTF?" I think it's because I had no idea how low the threshold could be for a man to feel his status threatened. If something as impersonal as a bank note can trigger rape threats, I feel like I need to reconsider leaving the house. Which is, apparently, exactly how I'm supposed to feel: terrified to exist in public.

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      Lex_DiscipulusKalev
      9/30/14 10:19am

      Apparently having to see a woman on your money is just too much to handle?

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      GeenabeenaKalev
      9/30/14 10:33am

      And he has a daughter and a girlfriend.

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    Jane *is* the... gazelle?Rebecca "Burt" Rose
    9/30/14 9:54am

    Before the "but free speech!!1!" lot rolls in - I don't care. You can't just go around vomiting up shit like that without consequences.

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      bemyhoneypieJane *is* the... gazelle?
      9/30/14 10:34am

      I know the But Free Speech brigade aren't known for thinking things through, but I don't know how anyone can think that free speech constitutes yelling abuse at someone.

      Free speech: I really don't think it is a good idea to put Austen on the money. Here are my (probably shit) reasons why.

      Not free speech: I'm going to rape you.

      Why is that a hard distinction to make? You have the right to voice an opinion. Threat =/= opinion!

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      SaintClarence27Jane *is* the... gazelle?
      9/30/14 10:42am

      You can in the US. But not in the UK. Free speech is, er, different in the UK.

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    WriteBetterPleaseRebecca "Burt" Rose
    9/30/14 9:59am

    Now if only he loses his job and his wife and daughter go homeless. THAT would make for a good novel, Jane Austen would be proud.

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      TerrordidactylWriteBetterPlease
      9/30/14 10:14am

      Now if only he loses his job and his wife and daughter go homeless. THAT would make for a good novel, Jane Austen would be proud.

      We have a Welfare State here, a mother and child would most likely get placed in local authority emergency housing, which whilst often grim, would mean they weren't on the streets.

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      WriteBetterPleaseTerrordidactyl
      9/30/14 10:20am

      Even better, especially if after they are placed the other people bully and pick on her as she struggles, then she finally makes a friend and not only has others accept her, but learns to accept herself.

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    MsVerucaSaltRebecca "Burt" Rose
    9/30/14 11:24am

    I wonder whether the contemporary naming of these people as "trolls" lessens the impact and danger of what they do? In the same way that that asshole "prankster" assaulting women recently is just, well - an asshole, perhaps we should call "trolls" what they really are.

    We lost a wonderful woman to suicide this year, Charlotte Dawson who killed herself after months of relentless abuse by, as the media called them - trolls. http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/charlotte-dawson-death-twitter-criticised-for-failing-to-act-against-trolls-20140222-338z6.html

    Perhaps it's time to start ignoring the means of their communication for their abuse (i.e., the internet, text, etc) and start to call these fetid little turds what they really are in real life - abusers, harassers, stalkers and walking sphincter muscles.

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      floreatMsVerucaSalt
      9/30/14 12:41pm

      I think this is a very good point; calling them trolls only allows their defenders to separate the internet from "real life". Whether we like it or not, technology and the internet is now entwined so heavily with other aspects of our daily lives that it is near on impossible to escape t - it is real life, the internet is not a game and the people that interact online are not imaginary. These are real crimes, no matter the medium, and the people who commit them deserve to face real consequences. Already people on my Facebook feed are discussing how sorry they feel for him for his "silly mistake" and are suggesting that the MP could have just turned the computer off or ignoring it. Somehow I don't think they would feel the same way if it was them.

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      MsVerucaSaltfloreat
      9/30/14 7:10pm

      Thank you for that. I'm glad it's not just me. You're so right - if these people stood on a street corner or outside someone's house and said and did these things, they'd be dealt with immediately, yet we think that somehow because it's on the internet or social media that it's less of a horror.

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    GELLA - LLAPRebecca "Burt" Rose
    9/30/14 10:06am

    he said it was a game, he didn't give a second thought about it. But if you play a game with out thinking, you get what you deserve.

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      HoofLemonGELLA - LLAP
      9/30/14 10:13am
      GIF
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      GeenabeenaGELLA - LLAP
      9/30/14 10:57am

      He said it was a game.....but she didn't agree to play.

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    DyloniusFunkRebecca "Burt" Rose
    9/30/14 9:58am

    So just for interest of historical comparison, does anyone remember when the Susan B Anthony dollar coin was minted, did it create this kind of backlash? I get it was a much different time when the coin came out, first 1979-1981 and then again in 1999. We didn't have social media and all that. But taking that into account, i'd be curious what kind of pushback there was, because i know there had to be some. Did assholes threaten to rape someone over that as well?

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      FlapMouthedGingerDyloniusFunk
      9/30/14 10:06am

      I'm certain they did. To their friends over a couple of beers. They just didn't have Twitter which gives them the wide audience they crave, who will many times flatter and encourage them.

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      House Milkshaker of DaftbollocksDyloniusFunk
      9/30/14 10:15am

      I dunno about the US but this is even more odd because we have had women on banknotes for YEARS so this is not even an issue. The 5 pound note has a woman on it now - Elizabeth Fry It used to be Florence Nightingale on the £10 from 1975 to 1994.

      This dude just likes bullying women. Any excuse he gets.

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    JujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes hereRebecca "Burt" Rose
    9/30/14 11:15am

    Can we also find the people who retweeted or favorited this and lock them away in an underground prison for the rest of their awful lives?

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      MoreEelsPleaseJujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes here
      9/30/14 11:48am

      I noticed that too, and hoped he just favorited himself. Can you do that on Twitter?

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    The QueenRebecca "Burt" Rose
    9/30/14 10:07am

    "If you can't threaten to rape a celebrity, what is the point in having them?"

    Jesus, I can't even. And this guy has a daughter? wtf.

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