11 July 2014

Well today was certainly interesting.

While I certainly am aware of trolls on twitter, it was interesting not
only to learn how to deal with this said troll, but also the somewhat
predictable reactions I got from people.

It started off by my posting a link on the revenge rape of the 14 year
girl



Soon after I get this.
Very obviously a troll but...


So I instantly blocked him and reported to abuse to Twitter, and also
tweeted the screenshot of the tweet to Raheel at Twitter with a cc to
Rishi Jaitley. (head of twitter India)

At this point while my brain was saying its only a troll, ignore him,
some deep seeded anger erupted and I decided to blow this out of
proportion to make this guy really learn a lesson.
Many friends starting to support me and also complain and
recommend twitter take action, many told me to report the tweet to
the cybercrime division.

I sent the link over email cbiccic@bol.net.in to the cybercrime
division. It bounced back saying spam mail. (errr, maybe their filters
don't accept the word rape?????)

Meanwhile the perv had sent me another tweet. (which I missed
because was too busy blocking him)


Now that my blocking him and come into play, he started to message
various women saying tell her not to report me etc. Many men and
women rallied around and supported me on taking a stand.

I called the cybercrime branch - err, incorrect numbers on website.
When i called after enquiries i was given ANOTHER number
011-24368083

Engaged.
Continuously for hours.

Then someone recommended I go to their office in Lodhi Road.
I thought I would but decided to do it Monday (since today of all days
I am on a juice fast)

But the defence reactions that followed, were what pissed me more.





forgive and forget....he is sick....ignore the man....you are just doing it
for attention...... tripe that men dole out everyday.

Conditioning that we should ignore.
We should be quiet.

There were more, but I didn't capture them all, and many women told
them off.

Did it surprise me? No, but THIS is exactly the kind of misogyny that
leads rape.

A few days ago the morning after the German win I had tweeted.


Of course many told me women on their TL had tweeted using the
metaphorical rape too.

I had people saying Gangbangs were voluntary, When asked in what
context - they said Porn!
Err, yeah, all porn is voluntary.

We have become a culture that is not only numbed to rape, but rape
talk of all kind. And instead of treating even crappy troll tweets as
block, ignore and move on, we ALL should collectively report every
incident, install in the people around us NOT to use the rape
metaphor and sensitise ourselves.

Back to the troll - he assumed a new identity since twitter did suspend
his old account (Thank You Twitter) and tried to follow me (I by
default block accounts that have few tweets, no pictures, anonymous
handles and tweets all on one day. I know they have assumed handle
to stalk) and started to stalk my friends who supported me.


Ladies and Gentlemen - welcome to our world.

As for the cybercrime division, I have been told by someone, that
MANY people need to report abuse from the same person in order for
them to take it seriously.

Trolls, Zindabad!

As for this morning, another friend got his tweets and so did I from a
fake account:


and then this one



More people saying block and ignore.

I dont want to move on

We all move on too much!

And I am not alone in this.

We all need to fight.

In the next few days I hope to get some procedure on what we can
follow from the cops, and the cybercrime unit and maybe Twitter too.

The latest tweet this morning to someone on my TL


I have collated all the tweets for the FIR, and have also reached out
to independent security advisors.
Strangely most of these websites talk of harassment email not of
social media.

In the interim I have protected my account.
While I monitor everyone as a norm who follows me, this gives me
better chance to do so when I have time.
I block more people than I let on.

While many want quantity in terms of followers, I want sanity

14 July:

I have spent the entire afternoon at my local cop station filing an FIR.
I took with me screenshots of the relevant tweets.
The desk cops sprawled all over the sofas refused to get up to make
space for me, despite the fact that the area was for people making
complaints.
They also just couldnt wrap their heads around my complaints
(evidence)

What is twitter? What is social media? These guys did not know
Facebook also.
They looked at the tweets and finally figured the one in Hindi. And
looked somewhat abashed.

Anyway I explained it to the desk cop, and he took me to meet a
feisty woman cop.
More on her later but she was very helpful, and was full of interesting
stories.

I basically spent more than two hours where my complaint was
bandied between SHO and officers, each one not knowing exactly
what to do.
After an hour they figured that while they were the station, we came
under jurisdiction of a chauki.

They called the inspector from there to come and file my complaint.
He came and filed it and promised he would send it home.

He seemed somewhat better informed about social media and the
action they could take.
I really dont want to post too many details about what actions I will be
taking, needless to say, I will go the whole hog.

He has now got various IDs as a woman. Sent a friend this and sent
me one from another ID



I have protected my account and will do till this case comes to an
end.

In the interim, thank you ALL for your support. I have received
messages, emails, calls etc expressing solidarity and asking if I
need support.
Thanks ever.

This is not for me, this is for all of us who get abused.
Once I take this as far as I can, I will post a step-by-step advisory for
how to manage trolls.

Whether offline or online, do NOT accept any form of
harassment ladies.
We can change this.
No more silence. No more acceptance.