(not satire sadly)
(UPDATE: the tabloid journalist and her colleagues have even started to stalk and threaten my friends now: A Daily Mail journalist is trolling my friends)
Recently I wrote a blog post about what happened when I dared to ask a journalist who writes for national newspapers how she managed to ‘trace’ (her words) the personal phone numbers and home addresses of Twitter users:
Daily Mail hack boasts about being able to ‘trace’ personal phone numbers of Twitter users
My polite enquiry resulted in extremely aggressive trolling from her and a handful of her supporters as well as a threat to sue me for libel if I continued “being an idiot” as she put it:
Mail hack threatens to sue me for asking how she traced Twitter users’ personal information
That was 5 days ago – the trolling and insults have continued by her and her few friends and if anything have been getting worse.
So I thought I should share some of the choicest insults with you (trigger warning – bad language, violent imagery and aggression):
A lot of people have asked me why I haven’t blocked any of them.
Well, actually, trolling doesn’t really bother me personally – sticks and stones and all that – but it can have devastating consequences in some cases.
I also wanted everyone to see what you get when you dare to ask a journalist in the UK how she managed to trace Twitter users’ personal information.
This is the current state of civil liberties in the UK – where to even dare to ask about them is to invite bullying and insults.
Have the UK gutter press learned nothing after what they did to Milly Dowler’s family?
.
I’ll write more tomorrow about the real reason I might have been targeted for such relentless and aggressive trolling.
.
By the way, if you click on any of these buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people. Thanks:
It will be interesting to know what Tom Watson thinks of this?
LikeLike
This is all weird
LikeLike
Pingback: This is what you get when you dare to question a tabloid journalist in the UK » Alternative News Network
Some very choice words indeed. I guess, judging by the spelling and grammar, they most likely work for the gutter press also.
LikeLike
Welcome to the ‘charming’, ‘pleasant’ world of the real bullies in this, who pretend to be the victims. I’ve watched them do this to others for months. These tweets and countless others stand up by themselves as evidence of their truly deplorable and inexcusable behaviour.
If this is what you get for asking a journalist how she traces phone numbers, from the bullies she colludes with, she should never work again. Abhorrent.
Thank you for exposing them Tom.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are so obvious and so unskilled it makes it hard to believe they are still employed. Perhaps they are working from an old training manual?
Surely the agencies can find better candidates than this? I suppose though, thankfully, not everyone is willing to sell themselves in this fashion.
LikeLike
Whoever wrote those tweets seriously needs to get some help. What on earth makes someone behave like that?
LikeLiked by 1 person
She actually sounds like a sociopath.
Is that really the sort of person the Daily Mail wants to employ.
Ewww what a foul human being she is…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Can you print out the tweets and send a letter of complaint to her employer.
Please make a formal complaint- Its a serious concern she sounds deranged
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh dear. Nobody doing themselves any favours here, are they?
LikeLike
They’re from random Sonia-supporters; not from Sonia herself.
LikeLike
Separate the wheat from the chaff, then print the chaff.
My perception was that a few heroic independent bloggers & free lance journalists were right up there with Tom Watson, Eoin Clarke and Owen Jones, as progressive socialists, exposing the wrongs of the middle class, liberal and right wing establishment, propping up the Feudal hierarchy.
Turns out its all a matter of ego and self importance, rather than sharing the truth.
Something has swung or changed.
As Malcolm X found to his cost, when he became more popular than Elijah Mohammed and un earthed his corruption and false empire building…
I am glad to say I have met some great people with whom I share many thoughts and ideas on Twitter & Facebook.
Sadly, the collective consciousness of social justice and truth has been hijacked and the debate on political and legal points of order turned into a clash of personality and perception.
What’s a great shame it is, when two coaches argue over a game, when the game of life is so much more important than that.
LikeLike
I just looked at Twitter
The Shazza person from Wales…how can I put this…
Well she isnt very pretty is she- being abusive on twitter is probably an outlet for her subducted rage at the world.
LikeLike
Pity them – you are doing a fine job for all of us
LikeLike
Fiona: awww I may not be pretty but i’m lovely on the inside which is more than I can say for someone who would pick on someone’s looks because they can’t think of anything better to say. 🙂 xx
LikeLike
I wish the journo in question would read the TLs of the people she decided to support. Nasty bullies are two a penny – nasty bullies being supported by a journo because she didn’t do her research are thankfully pretty rare.
LikeLike
now i see why tom dident block them wanted to sow them up for what they were.
LikeLike
call me a paranoid conspiracy theorist if you like but i wonder if these people are trying to discredit Sonia poulton by pretending to support her.
LikeLike
Another blog full of what Thomas wants his viewers to see and up his numbers and traffic. Your friends attack these people then you wait for the fireworks and join in with a nonchalont *look at my personal trolls* amongst other statements. You even go so far as to call me a troll yet respond to my tweets with innuendo and satire when you eventually respond. Should anyone want to know the truth of where this journalist got her numbers instead of Thomas Prides version of events then feel free to read nancyheart26.wordpress.com
LikeLike
I wouldn’t worry Sharon; the best she managed with me was “Have you ever had a girlfriend?”
Something tells me this one needs help buttoning her top in the morning.
LikeLike
You’re a paranoid conspiracy theorist 😉
LikeLike
Quite frankly I’d rather not read these hate – filled lies and diatribes about innocent victims by you and your cronies.
LikeLike
Aah another one from the merry clique of foul mouthed trolls.
Read this one’s timeline folks. It tells you all about this one that you need to know. A vile specimen indeed.
LikeLike
Ahhh I see Paul, thanks for that 🙂 xx
LikeLike
He was kind. His choice of tweets to highlight them were not their worst ones. Their entire timelines consist of an endless tirade of vitriol and spite. Tom is only their latest target.
LikeLike
Basil Brush – you’re right. I’ve got off lightly. Other people have had much worse than that from these same people.
LikeLike
You are beneath contempt Tom. How can you write this after you have spent the last few days trying your damnedest to ‘Trigger’ Childhood Abuse Survivors to react to your goading? While we are on the subject, please can you also explain to your readers why you are tweeting Paedophile enablers and protectors who constantly attack CSA survivors?
LikeLike
when in doubt play the victim card hey outlaw.
and we know your a victim because you said you were.
LikeLike
He’s clearly done nothing of the sort Outlaw. Big up to Tom for standing up to you lot. Don’t believe anything this lunatic says people. From first thing in morning til late at night you harass innocent people, constantly twisting truth. You should be ashamed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Time and the Truth will out my friend. I like the way you also avoid a straight question… Speaks volumes 🙂
LikeLike
If Tom had spoken out about Paedophiles in his own Party I would have had more respect for him…. Labour25 anyone 🙂
LikeLike
There’s that ‘Bully’ word again, it’s as meaningless as every other word you overuse to emphasise your point. It never ceases to amaze me the way you lot always conveniently gloss over the ‘FACT’ that Tommy Boy has been goading and prodding people all week to get a reaction. So when this reaction comes, he cries ‘Troll’ and ‘Bully’ and slithers away to tell his faithful and eager followers how awfully he has been treated. We are not all victims you know, some of us survived and can fight back. That is the truth you cannot deal with, you cannot manipulate and use us, we are not children anymore…. You have to accept what you have ignored for forty years has come back to remind you of your apathy…. 🙂
LikeLike
So glad you agree with me on the facts about Mr Prides blog Janette . You may have not used your name but your picture of your dog is clear. The one you use as a blogger ! Still hiding. Surprising that you are so angry at him on here. Thought he was your friend . Love to Adrian. His address was false. Solicitor now onto his lies
LikeLike
Read it. Its open. Not protected. Nothing to hide
LikeLike
When did I ever say I was a ‘victim’ ? Is that straight out of the Tom Pride school of lies disguised as satire…. It’s little Tommy who is playing the victim card and if you stepped out of his shadow long enough to stand on your own feet you could see this… But you won’t because you are nameless, faceless and a cowardly keyboard warrior 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ashamed…… Or No More Shame? Another little blog link there. Do not look if easily triggered. Promotes peadophiles and rapists. Victims please be wary of this awful site. Your perpetrator may be on there.
LikeLike
Can ask that all your posts go back up if you like janette ?will pass on to blog owner
LikeLike
Boom Boom eh Basil Brush? Foul mouthed Trolls? A few swear words do not make you a bad person, goading and trying to trigger people and writing outright lies will make that of you, and a total refusal to acknowledge what is staring you in the face makes you equally guilty.. 🙂
LikeLike
tom pride dident say it i did
LikeLike
If anyone cares to answer my question why Tom Pride associates with people who target victims of CSA, who also protect and cover up the activities of known Paedophiles I will listen… Until then learn some facts before you all leap onto the people who do… 🙂
LikeLike
that ones wearing a bit thin now pal.
LikeLike
Lunatic? Would you care to elaborate on that observation…. 🙂
LikeLike
No answer then? You are so like Tom throwing accusations, sneers and insults…. But not one answer to any question asked… Not very balanced debate is it. But why would it be? 🙂
LikeLike
I read the nancyheart page, and most of it was unintelligible. However, if it was the case that the phone numbers of various twitter accounts were handed over in the way suggested, why didn’t Ms Paulton say so? Why did she boast about her techies tracing the numbers? Why all the aggression, insults and threats to sue? If there really was no hacking, Ms Paulton has responded to a reasonable question in a very strange manner. Thank goodness I have a proper job that leaves little time for conspiracy theories.
LikeLiked by 1 person
when in doubt repeat the same lie over and over again.
LikeLike
Earlier today I visited a site which I think this lady is involved with. This was my post and the reply from ‘admin’ which may or may not be her. Whether you agree with the politics or not, If it was her, I think this perhaps thinks shows the attitude to reasoned debate and free speech….
http://atosvictimsgroup.co.uk/2013/05/12/suicide-of-bedroom-tax-victim-grandmother-53-hit-by-20-a-week-charge-dies-after-leaving-note-saying-the-government-was-to-blame/
Loverat on May 12, 2013 at 2:09 pm said:
I think it is one thing criticising government policy and competance but to try to blame a suicide specifically on the government or individuals within it, is a step too far. It reminds me of the ill conceived public hysteria caused when an Australian Radio station played a joke on the hospital where Kate Middleton was staying. That was all stoked up by the mainstream media.
I blame this government and particularly the previous shambles for lots of things but I’m afraid these kind of headlines and reporting is naive. It is poor journalism and assumes (perhaps rightly I have to say) that most readers are idiots. To use a swastika to make a point is also in very poor taste.
admin on May 12, 2013 at 3:45 pm said:
When people are left with no option they do drastic things, when the ability to support oneself is removed from you what do you suggest people do?
If you had seen and read the hundreds of personal accounts of how peoples lives have been destroyed by faceless individuals in the DWP and Atos then maybe you might think in a entirely different way?
I very much doubt you are the sort of person who could be pursuaded to alter his opinion on this subject even If the evidence was right in your face.
As for using the Nazi swastika as a way to vent my contempt and hatred I feel for Cameron and his Bullingdon brigade, well that’s just tuff, you are more than welcome NOT to read or look at the stuff on this website?…..
LikeLike
I’m genuinely interested in the background to all this now. So far, it’s just been quite funny watching all the daftness – but I have absolutely zero clue about all this paedophile stuff that precedes it.
I gather one side thinks a bunch of people are paedophiles and the other side thinks it’s all bullshit? How does all that work? Why are you lot convinced and why are the other lot… not? It seems like a fairly mad thing to have a difference of opinion over.
[Paul – you’re right, it’s very complicated. It seems to be a kind of cyberwar between supporters and detractors of Steven Messham – you know the CSA victim who wrongly identified Lord McAlpine as one of his attackers. I stumbled into it myself after asking a Mail hack how she managed to trace private phone numbers of Twitter users. Here’s a simplified explanation of it all: How I got caught up in a cyberwar over victims of child sexual abuse] – TOM
LikeLike
no as far as i know she is not the admin there.
LikeLike
Hi Dave. I had the same concern as you. I think, basically, Sonia doesn’t understand the technicalities of how the information was gathered – only that she was able to receive it. Her boasts etc. were nothing more than whimsy, and her refusal to answer Tom was just because she isn’t a techie, so didn’t really know; and was happy just knowing that it wasn’t really his business anyway.
No offence to Tom intended; only acknowledging that she actually has no reason to tell him, because he isn’t a person of authority or whatever.
Aggression/insults etc. is something I don’t understand; and one of the main reasons I’m happy to defend her – because she hasn’t treated anybody as bad as she seems to be getting treated.
LikeLike
i haven’t made any accusations against anybody
as far as i know tom dident ether
LikeLike
she really only had to say that in the first place.
very funny she dident.
LikeLike
I do agree that the dialogue has become very repetitive. Perhaps a change of script is required? I’m sure, somewhere, there is a freelance writer who could be of assistance. 🙂
LikeLike
It should be clear to everyone who the aggressors are on this page. The antagonistic gang, who cant leave it alone when anyone speaks out against them. I am not one of their victims as they think, or want you to think I am, just ‘yet another observer’. Watch how the negativity, aggression, sniping and twisting the truth give them away. Think how they make you feel – confused, negative, victimised.
LikeLike
Nuggy, I agree that she could have just said that; but I don’t think there’s anything iffy about the fact she didn’t. I think Tom would have done a story anyway – she just made it easier for him.
Now it’s not really about how she got the info, or even why. People are just too busy with their own little argument about who is bullying who. Tom is receiving a backlash for getting involved – but it’s just giving him more fuel. Nobody should be threatening him, and it’s not helping anybody’s side to be acting this way.
LikeLike
Good observation. Use of NLP for a Common Purpose? 🙂
I somehow do not think they were top students as their technique is very transparent. Maybe they are due for a refresher course.
LikeLike
Observers tend not to interfere though…
LikeLike
Pingback: How I got caught up in a cyberwar over victims of child sexual abuse | Pride's Purge
Pingback: How I got caught up in a cyberwar over victims of child sexual abuse » Alternative News Network
She sees them and does nothing so is sort of complicit.
LikeLike
What are you talking about?
You are rambling. State your point clearly.
LikeLike
Pingback: This is what you get when you dare to question ...
” I think it is one thing criticizing government policy and competence but to try to blame a suicide specifically on the government or individuals within it, is a step too far. ”
The rambling of an unsound mind:
No it isn’t a step too far when it’s many many many suicides. And countless sick people being harassed to work within the last few weeks of their lives. We don’t expect pensioners to keep working forever, why should we push our bile onto the genuine sick.
At what point do you consider the people we elect become complicit in anything then?
Are they not duty bound to every single citizen to treat them as an individual and to adhere to the tenants of our democracy that we are all individuals?
IDS and his band of Psychopaths have decided targets have to be met. It is illegal for Doctors to do this and they wouldn’t, so he employs private contractors on a paper thin pretence. If you don’t want to be called Nazis I suggest they stop wearing the uniform.
LikeLike
Wow! Really stirred up a wasps nest there Tom! Outstanding!
LikeLike
Yhis is disgusting have you complained to the PCC, ( yeah I know They are pretty useless) or got in touch with some of the more responsible media to publicise this appalling bullying. Some of the tweets could be classified as threatening behaviour so you should call police
LikeLike
Outlaw, Glasgow, any other rancid little cronies on here.. you’re like shriveled little sacks of puss. The more you read the more angry and swollen you get. Every time you start typing its like this massive bulging pimple is being popped all over the screen. This puss you ooze with is negativity and it clearly has control over your lives, wipe away the hate and negative slime and try focusing on positivity, you might actually start enjoying life!
LikeLike
Accusations, sneers and insults- you and your mob would know all about those, WOULDN’T you. You positively revel in causing misery to others. Look to yourselves.
LikeLike
Yes Paul, the story seems to go from phone hacking to ‘Daily Mail journalist not getting her facts straight’ or even ‘someone caught not telling the truth on Twitter!’ I have rather less sympathy for Ms Paulton than you I think, but as ‘news’ it ranks somewhere below ‘bear shits in wood’.
LikeLike
nuggy: you are a paranoid conspiracy pirate… because you’re worth it 🙂
LikeLike
My name is: SONIA POULTON, you guys please…signed, Sonia Poulton, with love and best regards. PS: I don’t only write for the Daily Maul :)- PS: it would make a more ample story if you pluralised it and headlined it “Army of angry grizzlies descend on Montana wood and cause huge shit-storm..” :)-
LikeLike
“sacks of puss (sic)” smacks of insult to all loving home cats
LikeLike
Pingback: State of civil liberties in the UK – call an MP a coward and face jail | Pride's Purge
Pingback: State of civil liberties in the UK – call an MP a coward and face jail « Alternative News Network
Pingback: Twitter’s manager of news – @marksluckie – gets a bad case of hypocrisy over rape threats | Pride's Purge
Pingback: On-line trolling is being tamed – but the Tabloid Trolls are still rampant | Pride's Purge
Not satisfied with pushing janette to the brink, yesterday they started on her husband here with a fake twitter account in his name https://twitter.com/scabbydick
LikeLike
Disgusting trolling. Hope the Express drop her like the Mail did.
LikeLiked by 1 person
These are the disgraceful mobile phone texts sent to the “woman in holland” by Sonia Poulton Super Troll
+447944858524(+447944858524)
05-07
Delete
You have run my mobile number on Twitter and your website and the police are now involved. Do not contact me again.
+447944858524(+447944858524)
05-06
Delete
Leave a GENUINE survivor out of this. You have behaved despicably. What have you and your buddies got to hide eh? The beauty about being a real journalist is how much information is at my fingertips, Kev. You thought you could carry on but you can’t. Dear me I kind of feel for you now the truth is going to be known.
+447944858524(+447944858524)
05-06
Delete
On behalf of my editors I would like to thank you for giving me one of the best stories so far this year, Janette. You are a woman with many interesting strings to you bow. Even genuine campaigners are coming to me now and telling the truth about you. People have worked you out. Why did this person keep creating distractions from helping child who are abused, they say? And then the penny dropped. I feel we may have to work overtime making you presentable for the camera though. That’s the problem about inner ugliness, it shows on the outside.
+447944858524(+447944858524)
05-06
Delete
I never said we spoke. I called you love. You’re not well are you? DM will laugh their head off at you seeing as I’m freelance. I’m my own boss. Mind you sweetcheeks, I think we both know you have more to hide than I do. Oh I look forward to revealing you Janette or is it Kevin today? Lol
+447944858524(+447944858524)
05-06
Delete
You’re a piece of filth Janette. We know about you, your history, your family, you really should’ve stayed in your pit because now you are playing with big people. Watch for that knock on the door luv! Lolololol enjoy your evening. Your wickedness is catching up with you and professionals will run you in circles.
+447944858524(+447944858524)
05-06
Delete
I know everything about you and I am not messing. I called you twice and you didn’t pick up. Even your friends are squealing now Kevin.
+447944858524(+447944858524)
05-06
Delete
So its not you on twitter assaulting me?
+447944858524(+447944858524)
05-06
Delete
I’m coming for you Janette. Got people in Holland who want to interview you about your behaviour. You know you messed with the wrong person this time. Oh and I do wonder why the Huff Post keep showing up. Tsk Tsk. Its wonderful to have contacts against wicked people.
+447944858524(+447944858524)
05-06
Delete
Oh wow Kevin people really have seen through you. All these screenshots of Janette_53…tsk tsk you have created big enemies and the thing is they are pretending to agree with you for information. That must be horrible. But then you deserve it. You watch. You’re going to get exposed. And so are those who foolishly thought they could benefit from twitter hashtags and website hits. I’m on the side of right and you know it.
+447944858524(+447944858524)
05-06
Delete
I am aware of your history, the people you have ties with – including names and addresses. I have 10 techies who know about your false identities. You picked the wrong person to mess with. My best advice to you is to quietly disappear
+447944858524(+447944858524)
05-06
Delete
This is Sonia Poulton. It has come to my attention that you may have a problem with me. In fact, I have been informed you are ‘running a smear campaign on me’. You don’t want to do that. I’m not someone who takes crap like that. Take that as a warning to pursue if you don’t sort your self out.
+447944858524(+447944858524)
05-03
Delete
Just got this message. In and out of meetings. Why would anyone think I would alter a message? What is going on here? Sonia Poulton
LikeLike
MZ. SONIA POULTON SHOULD NOW BE INVESTIGATED BY THE DUTCH AND UK POLICE. THE TEXT MESSAGES TO THE WOMAN IN HOLLAND ABOVE, COMBINED WITH THE NASTY TWEETS ABOUT THE WOMAN FROM HOLLAND ARE MALICIOUS PUBLICATIONS, MALICIOUS COMMUNICATIONS UNDER THE 1997 AND 1998 MALICIOUS COMMUNICATIONS ACT AND PROTECTION FROM HARASSMENT ACT.
“Remember those trolls @theoutlawjimmy Here’s Pt. 1 on them (tweet screenshots to be added, thanks my lovely) express.co.uk/news/uk/420369…—
Sonia Poulton (@SoniaPoulton) August 07, 2013”
Почему-то я не думаю, что мы должны см. Часть вторая от Соня
SOMEHOW I DO NOT THINK WE SHALL SEE PART TWO FROM SONIA
OP EEN OF ANDERE MANIER DENK IK NIET DAT WE ZULLEN ZIEN DEEL TWEE VAN SONIA
莫名其妙地我不认为我们将看从索尼娅的第两部分
איכשהו אני לא חושב שאנחנו נראה חלק שני מסוניה
LikeLike
SEE THIS HYPOCRITICAL DIATRIBE FROM SONIA POULTON
http://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/327164/A-blow-to-cyber-bullies
QUOTE FROM SUPERTROLL SONIA POULTON IN THE ABOVE RAG.
“Generally, my approach to trolls is to ignore them, while keeping in mind that they are, above all else, to be pitied. Undoubtedly, they need help. It’s clearly not reasonable or healthy behaviour to obsess so much about other people, especially those we don’t know.
PEOPLE who lead full and productive lives do not become trolls but those who are dissatisfied, and who have mental health issues, often do. Last week, critics expressed their fears about Ms Brookes’s partial victory. They worry that the power to name and shame trolls, including the possibility of prosecution, will lead to censorship and damage free speech.
I disagree. Freedom of speech should not include the freedom to bully and spread lies. Perhaps by exposing trolls it will serve as a warning that our society is no longer prepared to tolerate abuse.”
IS SONIA POULTON PERHAPS WRITING ABOUT HERSELF ? LOOK IN YOUR MIRRORS TURTLE NECK , YOU ARE TO BE PITIED, YOU NEED HELP. UNDOUBTEDLY YOU ARE NOT INDULGING IN REASONABLE OR HEALTHY . BEHAVIOUR. YOU OBVIOUSLY ARE NOT LEADING A FULL AND PRODUCTIVE LIFE AND SEEM TO HAVE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES. YOU SERIOUSLY NEED TO CONSIDER SOME COSMETIC SURGERY, LIKE PERHAPS A ZIP ON YOUR NORTH AND SOUTH.
LikeLike
Sonia Poulton – Welcome
soniapoulton.co.uk/
Sonia Poulton – Welcome. … If you are here because of David Icke’s new TV and Radio project, The People’s Voice then YES I am involved – and delighted to be.
Biography – Current Media – Journalism – Broadcasting
SO, WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE, SONIA POULTON HAS BEEN PROMOTING DISINFORMATION AGENT DAVID ICKE FOR MONTHS NOW, A MAN WHO BELIEVES HE IS JESUS AND THAT THE DEAR QUEEN OF ENGLAND AND HER FAMILY ARE REALLY METAMORPHOSING LIZARDS. NOW THAT DOES REEK OF MENTAL ILLNESS DOES IT NOT.
LikeLike
ONE MUST DEFINITELY READ THIS GARBAGE BY SONIA POULTON AND DAVID ICKE CALLING US LIZARDS DEAR PHILIP, ORRFF WITH THEIR HEADS DEAR !
http://mccannhateexposed.pbworks.com/w/page/63794515/Sonia%20Poulton
LikeLike
Tom dear, you are rapidly becoming an internet sensation.
http://ilegality.wordpress.com/tag/sonia-poulton/
LikeLike
Hoh, good finds there my students, Yoda is proud of you.
Home
Projects
Ideas for you
About
May 8, 2013
Trolling Tom Pride
goblintroll
I came across an interesting Twitter-storm this morning. One that has been going on for the last couple of days and is still ongoing at the time of writing. It appears that a well known Daily Mail and Express journalist made a couple of statements on Twitter on 6th May regarding her ability to obtain the personal contact information of other Twitter users
Those tweets are here:
And a few tweets later:
Clearly, it is of interest when an established journalist and broadcaster claims publicly, so soon after the telephone hacking scandal and Leveson, to have “contacts” who are prepared to trace and provide personal identifying information (which they believe to be held privately by Twitter) on other Twitter users, including telephone numbers and presumably names and addresses. Further, it seems clear from the tweets above, that this has occurred and the information has been both provided and then utilised by the journalist in question
Is the journalist exaggerating? Did she really use “contacts” to trace other Twitter users so that she might ‘have at them’?
I am sure we have all over-egged the pudding on occasion but, if this was the case here shouldn’t the journalist have just admitted it? Would it really have been a big deal?
It seems from the journalist’s tweets, prior and subsequent to those pictured above, that she had taken issue with the people she has obtained the personal information on, describing them as “trolls”. She also goes on to provide in a separate tweet the full name of at least one person and adding, in most likely unintentional Yoda-speak: “Not a spine to her. Scared of me. Hiding after that last call“
I have to be clear, I do not know whether the journalist is making it all up or has actually obtained personal information on other tweeps, whether legitimately or otherwise. However, her public claim that she has obtained what is privately-held information and the rather aggressive tone in some of her tweets does I think merit some further consideration
One tweep said the journalist must have obtained the information from Twitter itself, however this seems highly dubious given that Twitter will not release any such information unless you have jumped through a considerable number of legal loopholes and nor has the journalist herself confirmed that this is how she came across the information
My other interest in all of this is the way that other Twitter users are involving themselves. Most importantly, the role of a core group acting in support of the journalist by muddying the discussion; continuing – now into its third day – making ad hom attacks on the blogger who first contacted the journalist and seeking to head off any proper exploration of the central issue (the journalist’s tweets) by any casual Twitter users that happen to come across the exchanges
As far as I am aware, there has still been no satisfactory explanation from the journalist as to why she made the comments in the first place. Not that she need explain on Twitter, of course. But it might have prevented the level of fallout
This is all happening right now. If you are interested then I would encourage you to read the original blog post by Thomas Pride and then work your way through his Twitter timeline, beginning with his tweet in which he initially raises the question with the journalist. You will quickly identify the core actors. What is noticeable as you read through the conversations is the way in which the blogger is accused of “spin and distraction” of “being sneaky“, and far far worse. All entirely unsubstantiated of course, but thrown in nevertheless. There are also some very good examples of concern trolling going on that are worth noting for future reference
Just having had a look now at the grief he is still getting, it appears that blogger Tom has certainly struck a nerve. What isn’t clear, is precisely whose nerve he has struck…
Share this:
Print
Email
Twitter16
Facebook1
LinkedIn2
Google +1
Tumblr
More
Like this:
Written by ilegal Posted in Twitter, WordPress Tagged with concern troll, daily mail, express, sonia poulton, thomas pride, tom pride, twitter
9 comments
May 9, 2013 – 5:36 am adeybob
My name is adeybob / monadTime. My phone was called by Sonia, and she threatened me, then went a bit ranty. My phone number is not even in my name, and has never been publicly available. But this blog appeared after: http://nancyheart26.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/poor-demented-adey/
A less kind man would suggest that Sonia wrote it because her @rse was flapping, and a mate let her use it. Some mate.
When she called me first time,she forgot to withhold her number,the idiot, and she had to call back, so I’m pretty sure the Muppet has left her IP address on the blog.
Saying “Does anyone know where it lives so I can physically attack it” would get ME ARRESTED…yet this is the kind of comment I get from Sonia’s New Twitter buddies all the time…along with my address and my facepic.
And why did Sonia abuse her position of power to scream down the phone at me? All because I tried to warn her that her new buddies were going to make her look like a complete tool.
Reply
May 11, 2013 – 9:52 pm Outlaw
Is this the same face pic that you posted on ypur own Facebook page Adey? I know you are a stranger to the truth so it is impossible to believe anything that comes out of your mouth can be taken seriously. You are accusing people of being MI5 troll teams and David Rose for God’s sake. 🙂 It is getting far too easy to track you down Adey as all one has to do is look at a blog or Forum where you find Janette Scharenborg either liking or commenting. Adeybob is always to be found trotting along dutifully behind doing her bidding… You and your friends are becoming a rather tired and totally sick joke now Adey, it is about time you found yourself some gainful employment 😦
Reply
May 9, 2013 – 6:49 am MFOGlasgow
Pity you never looked at the timeline and the Pride story and realised the Tweets were manipulated . Anyway.Before you keep rambling and supporting Thomas Pride who was offered the truth but refused to reply to me, please read the truth if you dare. nancyheart26.wordpress
Mr Pride omitted that referral from his story
Reply
May 9, 2013 – 10:25 am adeybob
Because it is twaddle,written by the same attack dog shrink that has been profiling me for months.
And getting it REALLY badly wrong.
You are the dog, Kate.
Kate works psych support for an mi5 troll team headed up by the David rose team.
The post below was DAYS ago. There’s enough on there to prompt a thousand calls from a bunch of angry solicitors.
I’ve had dozens of prank calls and threats down my fone, but not one call from a brief.
Read…make up your own mind.
http://kevingreen1950.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/sue-me-an-open-response-to-the-lupethelupe-blog/
Reply
May 11, 2013 – 9:55 pm Outlaw
“MI5 Troll Team headed up by the David Rose Team” 🙂 Keep taking the meds Adrian this is hilarious……
May 9, 2013 – 8:36 am Paul (@LazySavant)
You may not be looking hard enough for the spin. Mr. Pride has done this before, and is doing it again.
Please do not align me with either camp. Though I agree with one side on this occasion, I have my issues with the other too. It’s easiest to say that I think a lot of these people involved just have nothing better to do than act out a drama on twitter, and in their blogs.
To the point though: there is definitely spin going on. Being sneaky, maybe not. I see Tom’s methods as too transparent to call them “sneaky”. That’s not to say the other lot aren’t full of their own underhanded methods too.
Ultimately, the truth of this whole thing is that it isn’t worth all the fuss. It would have been useful if Sonia had just given some answer, but it’s her right not to. In fact, Tom has refused to give info on how he has acquired information in the past, citing exactly the same reasoning as Sonia did.
I can, however, see your point about it being interesting with regards to phone hacking etc. (especially to Joe Public who has no idea about the technology/simplicity involved behind either case) – BUT – Tom knows that too; that’s why he’s taken advantage of it and spun a story.
Reply
May 9, 2013 – 11:03 am All Roads to Hades are Equal
Sonia Poulton – that lovely woman who is defending the suspects in the murder trial of a teen boy. Danny O Shea was set upon by 10 adults with bats and knives (one of the attackers helped Blair with his anti knife campaign), but Sonia is certain that her friend who is accused of being one of this group, is a nice man who wouldn’t do that sort of thing.
http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/court-crime/danny_o_shea_trial_suspected_mob_organiser_not_violent_court_hears_1_2023543
Reply
May 11, 2013 – 9:39 pm Outlaw
I am afraid that I have to disagree with the part of this that states that Twitter does not release personal details. If somebody lodges a complaint to Twitter they have to complete an online which includes their personal details Name , Address, Telephone number etc. There is a disclaimer included that the person that has been complained about will be sent the details, and you have to agree or disagree to this before the complaint is registered. This particular complaint was a matter of somebody posting ‘Intellectual property’, namely a photograph which was taken from a Facebook page in the public domain. I was also contacted by Twitter as I had retweeted the said image and also have a copy of the E-Mail from Twitter which indeed does include the details that Tom Pride is blowing a gasket over. The details of this person, who incidentally has been abusing and harassing victims of childhood sexual abuse for months, so as a courtesy I shared his details in order that he could be approached in order to make him stop his campaign. If you want a copy of the e-mail you can contact me. So no hacking, no nefarious Internet snooping was involved in obtaining this number… Just Tom Pride creating controversy over what is after all a very simple matter….. Again.
Reply
May 11, 2013 – 11:10 pm Paul (@LazySavant)
Totally want to see a copy of that email. Details blanked out, of course. It might help prove the silliness.
What about the other people? Sonia implied multiple people. Not refuting your point though; just curious as it only covers one person.
Reply
Let me know what you think
LikeLike
Just posted by Sonia Poulton on her Facebook….
“E-mail just now from ‘friendly insider in Whitehall’: ‘You are too outspoken and should be careful with your words. You make some people uncomfortable’.
Sadly, could not respond as e-mail just bounced back, but I wrote: ‘Good. I’m not here to provide room service for elitists. By the way, I always make sure to let people know that if anything happens to me then it shouldn’t automatically be assumed it’s an accident.”
Tried to reply and it bounced? Does that sound like a threat to you?
Holmey
MORE HERE http://dwpexamination.org/forum/general-discussion/sonia-poulton-threatened/
LikeLike
http://jandeane81.com/showthread.php?5527-Child-abuse-list-ritual-abuse
about Sonia
LikeLike
this is worrying
http://www.theblackvault.com/phpBB3/topic1600-180.html
LikeLike
http://www.yatedo.com/p/Sonia+Poulton/normal/a0253aef652fa8ef98b3d2f843512338
LikeLike
SONIA POULTON PROOF THAT HER TWITTERTROLL FRIENDS ARE THEOUTLAWJIMMY & NOTJANERUSSELLSAYS, WHO I SAW PUBLISHED TAUNTS ON THE FAKE TWITTER PROFILE OF THE WOMAN FROM HOLLANDS HUSBAND.
Twitter
Search query Search
Have an account? Sign in
Outlaw @theoutlawjimmy 5 Jul
@soniapoulton ‘By their own hand, they destroy themselves eventually’ #classybird http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-458231/Apprentice-villain-caught-outdoor-romp-married-man.html …
Details
Sonia Poulton @SoniaPoulton 5 Jul
@theoutlawjimmy LOL I know hun but rumour was she arranged that to raise her profile. I don’t think scruples are an issue!
Details
grouchy marxist @deadkeneneddie 5 Jul
@SoniaPoulton @theoutlawjimmy She really is an obnoxious twat and our Tyler,Chardonnay and Kylie all agree.Yours faithfully Elvis Beckham.
Details
Jane Russell @JaneRussellsays 5 Jul
@deadkeneneddie @soniapoulton @theoutlawjimmy I concur – she’s a hideous woman.
Details
grouchy marxist @deadkeneneddie 5 Jul
@JaneRussellsays @SoniaPoulton @theoutlawjimmy Well she does have the face of a well twatted,vinegar soaked concur.
Details
Jane Russell @JaneRussellsays 5 Jul
@deadkeneneddie @soniapoulton @theoutlawjimmy I’ll go with your description – mine would be far less flattering. : D
Details
grouchy marxist @deadkeneneddie 5 Jul
@JaneRussellsays @SoniaPoulton @theoutlawjimmy If its about names.Who’s better.Katie Hopkins or Bernard Hopkins.Only 1 way to find out.Fight
Details
Sonia Poulton @SoniaPoulton 5 Jul
@deadkeneneddie @JaneRussellsays @theoutlawjimmy haha Grouchy man you killed me. haha still laughing about your first tweet. Brilliant!
Details
Sonia Poulton @SoniaPoulton
@deadkeneneddie @JaneRussellsays @theoutlawjimmy lol so there! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TBEBk9BjEM …
Reply
Retweet
Favorite
1 Retweet
1 Favorite
Outlaw Jane Russell
3:37 PM – 5 Jul 13
Jane Russell @JaneRussellsays 6 Jul
@soniapoulton @deadkeneneddie @theoutlawjimmy I can’t actually watch this awful bint.She’s what the TV off switch was invented for 😀
Details
Sonia Poulton @SoniaPoulton 6 Jul
@JaneRussellsays @deadkeneneddie @theoutlawjimmy lol lovely to have Jane back! x
Details
Jane Russell @JaneRussellsays 6 Jul
@soniapoulton @deadkeneneddie @theoutlawjimmy Thank you Sonia, humbled to have been missed by you lovelies. X
Details
Jane Russell @JaneRussellsays 6 Jul
@deadkeneneddie @soniapoulton @theoutlawjimmy Looking forward to seeing much more of your fine work when the Peoples Voice is up & running X
Details
Sonia Poulton @SoniaPoulton 6 Jul
@JaneRussellsays @deadkeneneddie @theoutlawjimmy CANNOT WAIT! We are going for it! x
Details
Jane Russell @JaneRussellsays 6 Jul
@soniapoulton @deadkeneneddie @theoutlawjimmy Knew you would! Exciting times & a voice FOR the people & not TO the people at long last! X
Details
Don’t miss any updates from Sonia Poulton Join Twitter today and follow what interests you!
Text follow SoniaPoulton to your carrier’s shortcode
© 2013 Twitter
About
Help
LikeLike
just throwing in my two penneth worth !
Via Sonia Poulton This is unacceptable… – Grassroots Welfare …
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=364817663606909&story_fbid...
Via Sonia Poulton This is unacceptable lies … It turns out that Tom is Twitter-friendly with Janette Scharenborg, the horror who is after me. I always thought Tom …
Sonia Poulton @SoniaPoulton 25 May @JaneRussellsays 100 per cent Kev is Janette. And the rats all clamoured in for action
Details
LikeLike
Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. express_logo
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Check us on Google+
Subscribe to our rss feed
Sign in / Register
Daily
Horoscope Our
Apps Our
Paper Paper
Archive
Weather 15°
London, UK
HOME
News
Sport
Comment
Finance
Entertainment
Life & Style
Fun
Pictures
UK
World
Showbiz
Royal
Weird
Health
Property
Science & Tech
Retirement
Scotland
Sunday Express
Home
News
UK
How I unmasked my vile Twitter trolls
How I unmasked my vile Twitter trolls
One woman outlines her battle to expose the shadowy figures who delighted in sending her sickening threats and spreading lies around the internet
By: Sonia Poulton
Published: Wed, August 7, 2013
0Comments
Journalist-Sonia-Poulton-was-threatened-and-verbally-abused-by-anonymous-internet-trolls Journalist Sonia Poulton was threatened and verbally abused by anonymous internet trolls
LAST week MP Stella Creasy and feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez were subjected to a torrent of vile abuse, including threats of physical and sexual violence, all because they dared to fight for Jane Austen to appear on the £10 note.
Cambridge professor Mary Beard broke a day of silent protest on Twitter on Sunday, writing: “Planned to be off twitter, but I’ve had more threats this morning (rape and worse). It is still going on. Tried to report to Twitter, failed.”
I understand the emotions these women have experienced as I’ve also suffered at the hands of internet abusers and “trolls”.
The internet troll, frequently operating under a fake profile, works on social network sites, forums and chat-rooms. There are rumours that many campaigns, including political ones, employ trolls to divert a conversation or reinforce a position or argument.
My internet abuse began after I started writing about paedophiles following the Jimmy Savile revelations last year.
As my research progressed, and I became close to several adult survivors of care home abuse, I began receiving nasty messages on Twitter.
It soon became clear that the tweets, which made disparaging remarks about my work and appearance, came from five different people.
An inspection of the Twitter accounts revealed that each person claimed to be an “anti-child abuse campaigner” which made no sense. Why would people on the same side attack me?
I dismissed them as bored and carried on.
MP Stella Creasy and campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez received shocking Twitter abuse (Pic: Getty)
Each day took me closer to identifying paedophile rings in the UK and abroad and I relished helping abuse survivors receive justice. However, my exploration into the dark world of paedophilia was unwanted by some.
In May I received a Facebook message that signalled the beginning of an onslaught. It said: “Your friends are paedos. No wonder you want to ‘help’ abused children.”
An unfamiliar name, belonging to a de-activated account was implicating me in child abuse.
Child Protection experts assured me that smearing was a known tactic to detract from the real perpetrators but it still unnerved me. I worried that people might think there was no smoke without fire.
The following day an unfamiliar blog claimed I was “the missing link” in paedophile rings. A “leader” bringing child abusers together. My mind spun. I had a sense of dark foreboding.
That afternoon an email was sent to my website. It said: “We know where you are and we’re coming for you.”
I tried to respond but the email address didn’t exist. I fretted all night and didn’t sleep. I considered stopping my investigations, worried that my family may be harmed because of my work.
The next day a post appeared on another blog saying I worked for MI5 (not true) as a “disinformation agent” protecting “paedo MPs” by “issuing misleading information”.
Enough was enough. I contacted my local police but the sergeant, although sympathetic, was helpless.
He said it was “difficult” that the law was “struggling with the internet” and that abusive blogs were the responsibility of the internet companies that hosted them.
He advised me to trace the Internet Service Provider (ISP) which could lead to the identity of who was writing about me.
Several computer technicians I work with set to work tracing my attackers.
The results revealed a woman based in Holland claiming to be an anti-child abuse campaigner.
Within 30 minutes of discovering her identity, she left a message on my mobile asking me to call her. She knew I was on to her and she tried to head me off at the pass.
I called her and she didn’t answer so I texted telling her I was aware she was smearing me. She denied it.
Classicist Mary Beard has been vocal in exposing the cowardice of vile Twitter trolls (pic: Getty)
Then I received a second name from the ISP trace. I was shocked. It was a Birmingham man who frequently tweeted supportive words to me. A mutual contact gave me his telephone number and I rang it.
An insipid voice answered. I gave my name. His silence was palpable. Suddenly all the rage and fear of being threatened and smeared came tumbling out. For the next five minutes I barely paused to catch breath as I screamed at him.
Predictably for an abuser, he was a coward when confronted. He blamed others for “dragging me into this”. He said it “meant nothing” and that I was “being tested”. His weasel-words made him even more contemptible in my eyes.
I finished the call and tweeted one of the abuse survivors, also bullied and threatened by this group.
Unfortunately, in the exhilaration of confronting one of our attackers, I momentarily forgot that I was communicating on a public forum. Naively ignoring that this would be used against me.
Within hours a man of their acquaintance, a blogger with a small readership but an almighty grudge became involved.
He harboured resentment from a few weeks before when he ran a fake story about a disabled woman which I had pointed out was untrue. He removed the blog post but his ego was wounded.
He took selective tweets from my Twitter account and ran them in a story suggesting that I was a phone hacker. This is a devastating charge against a journalist, particularly in this post-Leveson era.
His blog went from receiving three to four comments per story to 300 to 400 when it mentioned me.
Greedy for this new attention he began tweeting that he “had things on me” and would be writing another “exposé”.
Fortunately, I have a 20-year reputation as a campaigning journalist and people who know me understood that the hacking claims were the fevered imaginings of an ambitious blogger with wounded pride.
Exhausted by the constant smears on my character, I struggled to work and lost a stone in weight, my anxious mind preparing for the next assault.
Then, as suddenly as the attacks had started, they stopped. My abusers disappeared but I hear they’re still trolling the internet. According to contacts they have resurfaced under new identities and are still savaging genuine survivors of child abuse.
Why me? It’s a question I’ve asked myself many times. The internet is a playground for shadowy characters who operate under many false names and use it to further their own warped agendas.
My investigations continue.
Related articles
Are we failing our children?
Why do so many young men hate women?
Name and shame vile Twitter trolls
‘I’m gonna be the first thing u see’ Masked man sends Twitter threat to MP Stella Creasy
Share this
Print
Email
0Comments
More UK
More
‘Tag a tree’ plea to save diseased ash
‘Tag a tree’ plea to save diseased ash
Warrior surfaces from the sea…after 400 years
Warrior surfaces from the sea…after 400 years
Yob who nearly killed ‘voice of stadium’ with a punch is jailed
Yob who nearly killed ‘voice of stadium’ with a punch is jailed
Recommended Stories
Beware the ‘Beast of Trowbridge’: Big cat spotted in Wiltshire countryside
Beware the ‘Beast of Trowbridge’: Big cat spotted in Wiltshire countryside
Two Britons face Bali drugs court
Two Britons face Bali drugs court
The terrible secret a twin tried to hide
The terrible secret a twin tried to hide
Date night! Princess Eugenie and Pippa Middleton take their beau’s for a night out
Date night! Princess Eugenie and Pippa Middleton take their beau’s for a night out
Beware the ‘Beast of Trowbridge’: Big cat spotted in Wiltshire countryside
Two Britons face Bali drugs court
The terrible secret a twin tried to hide
Date night! Princess Eugenie and Pippa Middleton take their beau’s for a night out
7 investment traps that could harm your wealth
7 investment traps that could harm your wealth
(Hargreaves Lansdown)
30 Ugly Celebrities without Makeup
30 Ugly Celebrities without Makeup
(Celebrity Toob)
How the state pension is changing
How the state pension is changing
(MoneyVista)
The Internet’s 15 greatest hidden gems
The Internet’s 15 greatest hidden gems
(eHow)
7 investment traps that could harm your wealth
30 Ugly Celebrities without Makeup
How the state pension is changing
The Internet’s 15 greatest hidden gems
Recommended by
Comments Unavailable
Sorry, we are unable to accept comments about this article at the moment. However, you will find some great articles which you can comment on right now in our Comment section.
More UK
More
Shake-up to make your energy bills simpler may mean you are worse off
Shake-up to make your energy bills simpler may mean you are worse off
0Comments Share
75-year-olds to be jurors
75-year-olds to be jurors
1Comments Share
European Union ruling aided fake marriages
European Union ruling aided fake marriages
8Comments Share
David Cameron: My back pain is a bore
David Cameron: My back pain is a bore
9Comments Share
Sister is jailed for £62k theft
Sister is jailed for £62k theft
0Comments Share
More UK
More
No new coalition with Nick Clegg unless we all get vote, say top Conservatives
No new coalition with Nick Clegg unless we all get vote, say top Conservatives
5Comments Share
Grief-stricken widow of murdered organist is also battered in street
Grief-stricken widow of murdered organist is also battered in street
1Comments Share
Chocolate gag tastes sweet success at Edinburgh Fringe
Chocolate gag tastes sweet success at Edinburgh Fringe
0Comments Share
Office anger rages twice a day
Office anger rages twice a day
0Comments Share
Green MP arrested in blockade as fracking demos erupt
Green MP arrested in blockade as fracking demos erupt
3Comments Share
More UK
More
‘Tag a tree’ plea to save diseased ash
‘Tag a tree’ plea to save diseased ash
0Comments Share
Heaven scent! Pet skunk who cured little girl’s shyness
Heaven scent! Pet skunk who cured little girl’s shyness
0Comments Share
‘Wrap rage’ as packaging gets harder to prise open
‘Wrap rage’ as packaging gets harder to prise open
1Comments Share
75% of women’s shoes ‘never worn’
75% of women’s shoes ‘never worn’
0Comments Share
Arctic trekker died hugging pals for heat in -70C storm
Arctic trekker died hugging pals for heat in -70C storm
3Comments Share
SEARCH
CONNECT WITH US
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Check us on Google+
Subscribe to our rss feed
TODAY’S PAPER
todays-paper
Tuesday, 20th August 2013
See today’s front and back pages, download the newspaper, order back issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive.
News
UK
World
Showbiz
Royal
Weird
Health
Property
Science & Tech
Retirement
Scotland
Sunday Express
Pictures
Galleries
Sport
Football
Transfer news
Tennis
Rugby Union
Golf
Cricket
F1 & Autosport
Boxing
Horse Racing
Rugby League
Other Sport
Comment
Columnists
Express Comment
Beachcomber
Have Your Say
Cartoon
Finance
Personal Finance
City & Business
The Crusader
Entertainment
Films
TV & Radio
Books
Theatre
Music
TV Listings
Fun
Horoscope
Offers
Top 10 Facts
Puzzles
Competitions
Bingo
Life & Style
Health
Garden
Cars
Food & Recipes
Travel
Fashion & Beauty
Saturday
S Magazine
EXPRESS.CO.UK
Sitemap
Contact Us
Advertising
Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy
Terms & Conditions
Design by Netro42
Daily Star
OK! Magazine
new! Magazine
Star Magazine
Health Lottery
Channel 5
Northern and Shell Copyright ©2013 Northern and Shell Media Publications.
“Daily Express” is a registered trademark. All rights reserved.
Accept Cookies By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. You can find out more by following this link.
LikeLike
Someone should contact Patrick Schofield of ITV and direct him to all this information here Tom.
Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. express_logo
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Check us on Google+
Subscribe to our rss feed
Sign in / Register
Daily
Horoscope Our
Apps Our
Paper Paper
Archive
Weather 15°
London, UK
HOME
News
Sport
Comment
Finance
Entertainment
Life & Style
Fun
Pictures
UK
World
Showbiz
Royal
Weird
Health
Property
Science & Tech
Retirement
Scotland
Sunday Express
Home
News
UK
How I unmasked my vile Twitter trolls
How I unmasked my vile Twitter trolls
One woman outlines her battle to expose the shadowy figures who delighted in sending her sickening threats and spreading lies around the internet
By: Sonia Poulton
Published: Wed, August 7, 2013
0Comments
Journalist-Sonia-Poulton-was-threatened-and-verbally-abused-by-anonymous-internet-trolls Journalist Sonia Poulton was threatened and verbally abused by anonymous internet trolls
LAST week MP Stella Creasy and feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez were subjected to a torrent of vile abuse, including threats of physical and sexual violence, all because they dared to fight for Jane Austen to appear on the £10 note.
Cambridge professor Mary Beard broke a day of silent protest on Twitter on Sunday, writing: “Planned to be off twitter, but I’ve had more threats this morning (rape and worse). It is still going on. Tried to report to Twitter, failed.”
I understand the emotions these women have experienced as I’ve also suffered at the hands of internet abusers and “trolls”.
The internet troll, frequently operating under a fake profile, works on social network sites, forums and chat-rooms. There are rumours that many campaigns, including political ones, employ trolls to divert a conversation or reinforce a position or argument.
My internet abuse began after I started writing about paedophiles following the Jimmy Savile revelations last year.
As my research progressed, and I became close to several adult survivors of care home abuse, I began receiving nasty messages on Twitter.
It soon became clear that the tweets, which made disparaging remarks about my work and appearance, came from five different people.
An inspection of the Twitter accounts revealed that each person claimed to be an “anti-child abuse campaigner” which made no sense. Why would people on the same side attack me?
I dismissed them as bored and carried on.
MP Stella Creasy and campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez received shocking Twitter abuse (Pic: Getty)
Each day took me closer to identifying paedophile rings in the UK and abroad and I relished helping abuse survivors receive justice. However, my exploration into the dark world of paedophilia was unwanted by some.
In May I received a Facebook message that signalled the beginning of an onslaught. It said: “Your friends are paedos. No wonder you want to ‘help’ abused children.”
An unfamiliar name, belonging to a de-activated account was implicating me in child abuse.
Child Protection experts assured me that smearing was a known tactic to detract from the real perpetrators but it still unnerved me. I worried that people might think there was no smoke without fire.
The following day an unfamiliar blog claimed I was “the missing link” in paedophile rings. A “leader” bringing child abusers together. My mind spun. I had a sense of dark foreboding.
That afternoon an email was sent to my website. It said: “We know where you are and we’re coming for you.”
I tried to respond but the email address didn’t exist. I fretted all night and didn’t sleep. I considered stopping my investigations, worried that my family may be harmed because of my work.
The next day a post appeared on another blog saying I worked for MI5 (not true) as a “disinformation agent” protecting “paedo MPs” by “issuing misleading information”.
Enough was enough. I contacted my local police but the sergeant, although sympathetic, was helpless.
He said it was “difficult” that the law was “struggling with the internet” and that abusive blogs were the responsibility of the internet companies that hosted them.
He advised me to trace the Internet Service Provider (ISP) which could lead to the identity of who was writing about me.
Several computer technicians I work with set to work tracing my attackers.
The results revealed a woman based in Holland claiming to be an anti-child abuse campaigner.
Within 30 minutes of discovering her identity, she left a message on my mobile asking me to call her. She knew I was on to her and she tried to head me off at the pass.
I called her and she didn’t answer so I texted telling her I was aware she was smearing me. She denied it.
Classicist Mary Beard has been vocal in exposing the cowardice of vile Twitter trolls (pic: Getty)
Then I received a second name from the ISP trace. I was shocked. It was a Birmingham man who frequently tweeted supportive words to me. A mutual contact gave me his telephone number and I rang it.
An insipid voice answered. I gave my name. His silence was palpable. Suddenly all the rage and fear of being threatened and smeared came tumbling out. For the next five minutes I barely paused to catch breath as I screamed at him.
Predictably for an abuser, he was a coward when confronted. He blamed others for “dragging me into this”. He said it “meant nothing” and that I was “being tested”. His weasel-words made him even more contemptible in my eyes.
I finished the call and tweeted one of the abuse survivors, also bullied and threatened by this group.
Unfortunately, in the exhilaration of confronting one of our attackers, I momentarily forgot that I was communicating on a public forum. Naively ignoring that this would be used against me.
Within hours a man of their acquaintance, a blogger with a small readership but an almighty grudge became involved.
He harboured resentment from a few weeks before when he ran a fake story about a disabled woman which I had pointed out was untrue. He removed the blog post but his ego was wounded.
He took selective tweets from my Twitter account and ran them in a story suggesting that I was a phone hacker. This is a devastating charge against a journalist, particularly in this post-Leveson era.
His blog went from receiving three to four comments per story to 300 to 400 when it mentioned me.
Greedy for this new attention he began tweeting that he “had things on me” and would be writing another “exposé”.
Fortunately, I have a 20-year reputation as a campaigning journalist and people who know me understood that the hacking claims were the fevered imaginings of an ambitious blogger with wounded pride.
Exhausted by the constant smears on my character, I struggled to work and lost a stone in weight, my anxious mind preparing for the next assault.
Then, as suddenly as the attacks had started, they stopped. My abusers disappeared but I hear they’re still trolling the internet. According to contacts they have resurfaced under new identities and are still savaging genuine survivors of child abuse.
Why me? It’s a question I’ve asked myself many times. The internet is a playground for shadowy characters who operate under many false names and use it to further their own warped agendas.
My investigations continue.
Related articles
LikeLike
Sonia Poulton
Sonia Poulton
@SoniaPoulton
Journalist. Broadcaster. Social Commentator. Mum. Has an attitude about all injustice – and doesn’t care who knows it.
England · soniapoulton.co.uk
23,939 Tweets
437 Following
7,461 Followers
Tweets
Outlaw @theoutlawjimmy 2h
Anything for attention…. Anything….
Expand
Sonia Poulton @SoniaPoulton 1h
@theoutlawjimmy absolutely anything and the thing is some people are so delusional they think their behaviour is convincing. BAHAHAHAHAHA!
Hide conversation
Reply
Retweet
Favorite
1 Retweet
2 Favorites
Outlaw justme
3:42 AM – 20 Aug 13 · Details
LikeLike
Their impersonation of Janette’s husband on twitter has just been taken down after complaints to twitter.
LikeLike
The Twitter Trolls impersonation of Janette’s husband on Twitter has just been removed by Twitter.
LikeLike
http://guerrillademocracy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/calls-for-revolution.html
” Do not pay any mind to people like David Icke, Chris Spivey, or Abby Martin, Max Keiser and Sonia Poulton or anyone who does not conform to the sanitised picture of the world that has been carefully painted for you.
After All…
Who wants to swallow the bitter pill that is the truth when deception is so much easier to digest eh?”
LikeLike
Why are the UK authorities allowing Chris Spivey to publish all the vile publications on his website
https://tompride.wordpress.com/2013/05/12/this-is-what-you-get-when-you-dare-to-question-a-tabloid-journalist-in-the-uk/#comment-30401
he is a friend of Poulton & Icke and all this anarchy is allowed to be perpetrated !
LikeLike
Tweets
Outlaw @theoutlawjimmy 5h
Anything for attention…. Anything….
Expand
Sonia Poulton @SoniaPoulton 4h
@theoutlawjimmy absolutely anything and the thing is some people are so delusional they think their behaviour is convincing. BAHAHAHAHAHA!
Well, the only ones you convicne dear Sonia are your twitter trolls
LikeLike
Chris Spivey @ChrisSpivey3 8h
@theoutlawjimmy Morning Jim. I have sent you an Email which Im sure you will find very interesting. x
Expand
Outlaw @theoutlawjimmy 6h
@ChrisSpivey3 Just read it mate.. Very interesting and I guessed that was their next move.. Thanks for the heads up my friend.. X
Hide conversation
Reply
Retweet
Favorite
2:06 AM – 20 Aug 13 · Details
Chris Spivey @ChrisSpivey3 4h
@theoutlawjimmy My pleasure mate x
Expand
LikeLike
Bollocks to this.
My name is Adrian…adeybob/monadtime.
Despite what your blogs say, you poxy coward, I’m not on a bloody sex offenders register, and I am not someone called Janet.
I’m not a troll, and nor do I seek out and abuse csa victims for jollies.
I’m a csa victim myself, have spent approx 10 years in care and have been left psychologically shattered by the experience.
The ONLY reason I started to use twitter, was because I wanted to help raise serious issues about csa.
Despite my mental issues, and being single for long periods, I’ve managed to raise a wonderful child who’s got an active social life, who has been in no trouble with the cops, and he has a good academic record…he’s also got a brilliant sense of humour. This is the same kid you’ve decided to start trolling, just because you can’t find any dirt on me, you abusive animal.I’m also an honorary father of 3 other smashing kids, two are now adults.
I’m a single parent, and I am a carer for my very ill ma.
In short, I’ve got a lot on my plate.
In short, I don’t need the hassle of a years-worth of truly disgusting trolling, AND a wound-up Poulton thrown in.
I don’t need it at all.
So please JUST STOP before I snap. Apart from telling mfoglasgow/mfokate and janerussellsays to fu@k off – after MONTHS of REALLY ABUSIVE trolling – I haven’t said bugger all dodgy to anyone on twitter.
Show proof of your accusations, Rhoyden, or just desist from terrorising people.
SHOW
SOME
PROOF.
For the record, Mfo has been permanently banned from twitter at least twice…janerussellsays has also been banned several times – although not permanently…
…in fact ‘JJ’, you’ve been permanently banned from twitter twice now, haven’t you? For using multiple accounts on twitter to intimidate and harass people, wasn’t it?
I can prove every word I’ve said, I don’t have to lie or rely on people to repeat lies for me…I don’t have to rely on idiotic hacks, either.
LikeLike
Well said Adeybob. After all you’ve been through you’re rightly proud of your success in bringing up your son.
But please don’t let unimportant trolls like Outlaw and his other handful of Daily Express supporting mates wind you up too much. Nobody even reads what he writes – apart from us. He’s really really a nobody and not worth it.
As for SP – her articles are virtual chip paper. She’s already been sacked by the Mail after her phone tracing shenanigans went public (tabloids are extremely sensitive about this subject) and the Express quickly stopped all comments on her last article after it was raised there so I think you’ll find they’ll be dropping her too.
That’s why she’s had to take work with David Icke.
Expect to be accused of being a 6-foot lizard next. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: The wonders of blogging – insults, trolls, libel and death threats | Pride's Purge
Pingback: THE TROLLING OF TOM PRIDE REBLOG | @theoutlawjimmy -THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK
Pingback: > A GUEST POST Collating Much of the Hollie Greig Fantasy/Scam « HOLLIE GREIG etc.
http://motherdamnable.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sonia-poulton-refuses-to-give-right-of.html
LikeLike
Pingback: Beware online activists asking for money | Pride's Purge
great post Tom ta,pity some like shazza have tried tae hijack it tae voice their sad little bitch fest Sharon eh?
LikeLike
Pingback: Why do I get trolled most of all when I criticise the UK mainstream media? | Pride's Purge
Pingback: How do tabloid newspaper hacks manage to trace private home addresses of Twitter users? | Pride's Purge