Christine Jardine tabled a Bill aimed at forcing social media companies to report on the action they are taking to tackle online abuse of women.

Women are more likely to be targeted by online abuse, sexual harassment or stalking. This is why I am proposing my Online Abuse (Reporting) Bill to tackle this blight in our society and make internet safer for everyone.#InternationalWomensDay #IWD23 #OnlineAbuseBill #SaferOnline pic.twitter.com/yuylixPLoG

— Christine Jardine 🔶 (@cajardineMP) March 8, 2023

From the Edinburgh Reporter:

Ms Jardine called the UK Government’s lack of action on the issue “a dereliction of duty”.

She said: “Social media has made it much easier for people to discuss key issues, but too often debates become toxic, with women bearing the brunt of abusive comments.

“I know from my own experience that social media can turn quickly nasty and have faced waves of personal abuse throughout my time as an MP.

“We must also remember that women from an ethnic minority background, or women with a disability faced much more targeted abuse because of their identity.

“It is outrageous that the Conservative Government’s flagship Bill covering online harms does not mention women even once. This is a total dereliction of their duty to protect all women and girls.

“That is why I have brought this Bill to Parliament, so no woman is left abandoned to the wild west of online abuse any longer.”

I am very pleased to see this. Back in 2016, I wrote about the impact online abuse directed at me had had on me:

This is fairly routine for any woman who commits the “offence” of going on the internet in possession of an opinion. I’ve come in for it myself and it does wear you down. There was a time a couple of years ago where it really started to affect me badly and reduced me to tears on several occasions. The European elections disaster and the independence referendum combined to create what seemed to be a never-ending spiral of abuse. The most hurtful came from commenters on this site, members of the party, some of whom I actually know in real life, who said some pretty unpleasant personal stuff, but they were just part of it. It felt that wherever I turned, there was nastiness.

It seemed like every time I switched on my PC, I’d find another load in my Twitter timeline and, for a time, it made me feel awful. Apart from the nasty sexualised abuse, I’d have comments about my appearance and my weight. It got to the stage where I feared switching on my laptop. The mere fact that it was stressing me out so much made me feel even worse. How could I be brought so low by random strangers I didn’t care about abusing me online when there are women in the world who risk rape if they try to find somewhere to go to the toilet after dark?

I’m not quite sure how I got through it. One thing was for certain – nobody was going to silence me, so I had no choice.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social