Naomi Long: Twitter must 'up their game' over abuse - Alliance leader

Naomi Long was speaking on the BBC's Sunday Politics programme

Twitter needs to "up their game" when it comes to tackling online abuse, the Alliance Party leader Naomi Long has said.

It comes after she was the subject of "squalid and misogynistic" messages in recent days.

She said social media platforms must act to improve their standards, but said the abuse "will not silence or deter me".

"We need to see changes to how the platforms operate," she said.

Mrs Long took to Twitter on Saturday to talk about the abuse she said she had experienced in the previous 72 hours, describing it as "genuinely appalling".

"I normally turn a blind eye to it, but this weekend I decided I was going to highlight it," she subsequently told the Sunday Politics programme.

"I think the more we turn a blind eye to it and ignore it the more it becomes accepted as part of the discourse in politics and it shouldn't be."

The former Stormont justice minister said "nobody has a right to a platform", but she also criticised the social media giant's response to her.

"When Twitter sends you an email and says: 'This doesn't breach our community standards', my question is: 'What kind of community standards do you have if it doesn't?'

Ms Long highlighted comments made about female politicians, in particular.

"Misogynistic, threatening and sexist abuse," she described.

"No community should accept that as part of their standards and I think they really need to up their game."

Northern Ireland's former first minister Arlene Foster tweeted her solidarity with the Alliance leader and told those behind the message "to take a good look at yourselves, especially if you have women who you love in your life - how would you feel if they received such messages?"

'Growing concern'

Last year, Mrs Long proposed that a forum should be held with other parties to discuss how to tackle online abuse of politicians.

She wrote to them sharing her "growing concern", citing intimidation during the election campaign in May 2022.

In one incident, People Before Profit's Hannah Kenny was verbally abused and physically threatened while canvassing in east Belfast.

Other female members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) described how they had been subjected to online harassment on social media.

"It is particularly concerning that at a time when we are trying to encourage more women to stand for public office, as well as seeking to address violence against women and girls, such incidents are so prevalent," the letter stated.

"It is incumbent upon us all to stand united and send a clear message that this type of abuse, both online and in person, is unacceptable."

The former minister said at that time legislation to tackle online abuse was not devolved, and that she hoped by reaching out to other parties they could relay information and experiences to the Home Office in London, which is designing the Online Safety Bill progressing through Parliament.

The bill is currently at the committee stage in the House of Lords.

DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) assembly member Diane Dodds, who has been the subject of online abuse in the past, has previously said ending the practice of fake social media accounts was the key to policing the issue.