Posted at 10:58AM Tuesday 21 Jun 2016
Caitlin Moran, the author and Times columnist, has called on Twitter and other social media platforms to do something about abuse against women.The award-winning writer said on Tuesday that Twitter could afford to "hire three people" to tackle threats against women if it aimed to be the place to be for global debate.Moran, who has 570,000 followers on Twitter, compared social media to a child at the earliest stages of its development. Guardian
Caitlin Moran: 'social media is like a baby screaming and throwing tantrums'
Writer and Times columnist says Twitter needs to ‘grow up’ and tackle abuse against women
Caitlin Moran, the author and Times columnist, has called on Twitter and other social media platforms to do something about abuse against women.
The award-winning writer said on Tuesday that Twitter could afford to “hire three people” to tackle threats against women if it aimed to be the place to be for global debate.
Moran, who has 570,000 followers on Twitter, compared social media to a child at the earliest stages of its development.
“Social media is like a baby screaming and throwing tantrums … which is then soothed by a picture of a cat,” she told an audience at the Cannes Lions advertising festival.
Moran said rape and death threats had prompted several female friends to quit Twitter, but she urged them to stay.
“It’s very important that we don’t retreat from it … it’s understandable that so many women have left social media … but those voices need to be there,” she said.
“I want to be there and help it grow up. Social media will become a toddler, then it will learn to walk and then it will grow up.”
Asked about several initiatives by the advertising industry to address accusations of sexism, Moran said she disagreed with some of her friends who believed they were simply a cynical ploy by huge multinationals.
“I’m OK with tokenism,” she said, raising a laugh. “It’s a step forward. It’s not ideal but it’s better than before.”
Moran also backed the Times’s online paywall, saying that it meant her regular column didn’t have to have sponsorship. Although like many Times columnists, she initially raged against the barriers to readers, she now compared it to the wall in Game of Thrones “keeping out the white walkers” of economic collapse.
“We call it the mortgage paywall,” she said.
The award-winning writer said on Tuesday that Twitter could afford to “hire three people” to tackle threats against women if it aimed to be the place to be for global debate.
Moran, who has 570,000 followers on Twitter, compared social media to a child at the earliest stages of its development.
“Social media is like a baby screaming and throwing tantrums … which is then soothed by a picture of a cat,” she told an audience at the Cannes Lions advertising festival.
Moran said rape and death threats had prompted several female friends to quit Twitter, but she urged them to stay.
“It’s very important that we don’t retreat from it … it’s understandable that so many women have left social media … but those voices need to be there,” she said.
“I want to be there and help it grow up. Social media will become a toddler, then it will learn to walk and then it will grow up.”
Asked about several initiatives by the advertising industry to address accusations of sexism, Moran said she disagreed with some of her friends who believed they were simply a cynical ploy by huge multinationals.
“I’m OK with tokenism,” she said, raising a laugh. “It’s a step forward. It’s not ideal but it’s better than before.”
Moran also backed the Times’s online paywall, saying that it meant her regular column didn’t have to have sponsorship. Although like many Times columnists, she initially raged against the barriers to readers, she now compared it to the wall in Game of Thrones “keeping out the white walkers” of economic collapse.
“We call it the mortgage paywall,” she said.
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