Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has stepped in after Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones highlighted the overwhelming amount of abuse she has received on the social network.
Jones, who portrays Patty Tolan in the new film, shed a light upon the racist abuse she has received in the wake of the release of the Ghostbusters reboot, with the news that the film has generated a healthy amount at the box office serving to stir up the hatred once again. In a series of tweets posted yesterday, Jones highlighted a selection of the vile tweets that had been sent to her:
Exposing pic.twitter.com/jfSbGj3yCP
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 18, 2016
I just don’t understand pic.twitter.com/N9xWoXPttu
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 18, 2016
Yep so sad these people have mothers and sisters and aunts. So fucking sickening pic.twitter.com/fEVLEgUfGh
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 18, 2016
Reported pic.twitter.com/EbctaTp5ze
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 18, 2016
So sad pic.twitter.com/WQn097m9hn
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 18, 2016
Exposing I hope y’all go after them like they going after me pic.twitter.com/ojK5FdIA0H
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 18, 2016
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 18, 2016
Various accounts then began posting doctored images in an attempt to suggest that Jones had made her own racist comments, with these images being shared by Breitbart journalist Milo Yiannopolous. One of these images includes the words “bix nood,” a term taken from an incredibly racist cartoon that first originated on 4chan.
Wow, Leslie! pic.twitter.com/Ni2J3rod9R
— Milo Yiannopoulos ひ✘ (@Nero) July 19, 2016
Jones responded to Yiannopoluos, tweeting: “I’m hearing this guy is a columnist how sad. Is this how he gets his readers thru supporting hate?” Yiannopolous previously had his verification tick on Twitter removed for violating the site’s abusive behavior policy.
Jones continued: “Twitter I understand you got free speech I get it. But there has to be some guidelines when you let spread like that. You can see on the profiles that some of these people are crazy sick. It’s not enough to freeze [their accounts]. They should be reported. And for all the “don’t stoop to their level people” it’s way past that. So please have a seat. Don’t tell me how to react. Cause I have every right to be offended and pissed. So for right now I have to take a break. All this hatred giving me the blues!”
She concluded: “I leave Twitter tonight with tears and a very sad heart. All this cause I did a movie. You can hate the movie but the shit I got today…wrong.”
After Jones’ series of tweets, Jack Dorsey sent her a message requesting a private conversation with the actress. Twitter has been routinely criticized in regards to its lackadaisical response to abuse and harassment on the social network, with the vitriol directed towards Jones the latest example of this. Hopefully Jones’ public condemnation of Twitter for not doing enough to combat this issue will convince Dorsey to make some key changes, and Twitter will finally stop being a platform for bigots who wish to spend their time harassing other users.
