After days of enduring racist, sexist comments, “Ghostbusters” star Leslie Jones has been forced off Twitter. The slew of hate she received was disgusting, with the star tweeting “I have been called Apes, sent pics of their asses, even got a pic with semen on my face. I’m tryin to figure out what human means. I’m out.”
The scary part of this is that the attacks against Leslie aren’t random fan hatred. The harassment is instead specifically dehumanizing, connected to a political group known as the alt-right. Twitter has finally done something about the online abuse, but for Jones their actions have come too late. Only after leading a campaign of hate speech against the actress has Twitter decided to permanently suspend the account of conservative writer and alt-right idol Milo Yiannopoulos.
Yiannopoulos has been temporarily banned and stripped of his verified status on Twitter before, for not only voicing controversial and offensive opinions, but also for inciting his followers to go after people he disagreed with. In response to the lifetime ban, Yiannopoulos stated earlier today on Facebook:
“Twitter just declared war on free speech—and, in the process, signed its own death warrant. The message to libertarians, conservatives, and anyone who loves mischief, irreverence, and fun is clear. You’re not welcome any more.”
While it is doubtful that Yiannopoulos has any personal vendetta against Leslie Jones, he does benefit from attacking what she represents.
Since 2014, the far-right-wing journalist has become a sort of figurehead for a counter culture that, as the mainstream media becomes more liberal and inclusive, rejects such ideologies. This counterculture is primarily found on 4chan, sub-reddits and dozens of other “politically incorrect” websites, where they can voice their common ideas. Yiannopoulos became entwined with the it during “Gamergate,” a controversy among those involved in geek culture.
The controversy surrounded the misogynistic attacks primarily sent to female gamers, particularly those pushing for greater diversity and inclusion in the video game world. But the overall issue was much bigger than that: a struggle between those pushing for greater visibility and inclusion in our culture, and those who want things to remain the same—namely misogynists, those insistent that the world is manipulated by left-wing media, and those who simply hated change.
The problem with Gamergate was namely that the comments against women fighting for inclusion in geek culture became so hostile that they literally drove women from their homes with rape and death threats. The FBI even investigated. So where did Yiannopoulos step in? By writing articles on Breitbart such as: “Feminist Bullies Tearing the Video Game Industry Apart” that not only attacks a female journalist’s sex life, but also, as a young woman, scares me.
It is important to note that the same people who made Gamergate happen have also been up in arms over the “Ghostbusters” reboot—the very same one Leslie Jones starred in. The majority of the outcry had nothing to do with critiquing the movie trailers’ quality, and everything to do with the fact that the main cast was female. Yiannopolis and many of his followers have been criticizing it for months.
Back in May, he wrote, “Even if the cast wasn’t made up of unsexy lesbian janitors, there would be plenty for fans of the franchise to dislike” about the trailer. Aside from the fact that he’s implying women can only be worth watching if they’re traditionally attractive, thin—he’s repeatedly called Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy fat—and wearing something that, of course, appeals to men. Not to mention the fact that Yiannopoulos didn’t even watch the trailer; he had an intern do it for him.
As for Yiannopoulos’ attacks against Leslie, they’ve been going on for a while now, with the journalist repeatedly referring to the actress as a man. And that’s without even touching the movie’s review. The self-proclaimed provocateur didn’t start the recent attacks against Leslie Jones, but he did publicly encourage them by tweeting:
Things only escalated from there, with Twitter finally banning Yiannopoulos from the social media site. His fans have since started the #FreeMilo hashtag.
In response to the lifetime ban, Milo Yiannopoulos apparently is declaring war on Twitter, once again martyring himself in the name of free speech. Twitter is notoriously slow to act towards any kind of cyber abuse, so its ban of the provocative writer is somewhat surprising. Yiannopoulos states that Twitter is not an environment friendly to free speech, but by encouraging abuse and racist, sexist views, he is effectively keeping others from speaking.
Leslie Jones has left Twitter, but how many other black women will see the treatment she’s received and feel afraid to speak up? Milo Yiannopoulos is not fighting for the first amendment, he’s fighting for attention by using hate speech—something he ironically accused a female journalist of during Gamergate. At this point, I’m fairly certain that if I looked up the term “problematic,” I would find his picture.
