A new campaign has launched today in a bid to stem the flow of online abuse being disseminated through social media platforms. As the Guardian has told, “Actors, television personalities and politicians are calling on their colleagues to stop giving fuel to online trolls in an effort to stop the spread of hate and abuse online”. So who’s involved?
Rachel Riley
“The former England footballer Gary Lineker, the former home secretary Alan Johnson, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, the anti-FGM campaigner Nimco Ali and the comedian and actor Eddie Izzard are among those uniting on Monday to advise people to stop engaging with trolls altogether online … The call by these public figures is part of the launch of a new guide for victims of online trolling called Don’t Feed the Trolls, launched by the new Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH)”. Who they?
It’s a new group: Alan Johnson said of its head man “I worked with the CCDH’s director, Imran Ahmed, on the EU referendum campaign, in which we saw outbreaks of virulent hate offline and especially online, and in which our colleague Jo Cox lost her life to a radicalised white nationalist terrorist”. We’re talking serious abuse here.
Victoria Derbyshire - once again, Ms Riley's chosen conduit
Gary Lineker added “We’ve all been shocked by the way in which racist trolls have been targeting footballers recently. It is frankly horrifying that they have done so in a calculated way to spread their abhorrent views. Let’s not allow the beautiful game to be tarnished in this way”. And serious racist abuse. But then, someone had to ruin things.
Seeing a bandwagon passing by, Z-list Sleb Rachel Riley, who has risen to the giddy heights of doing the numbers on Countdown, went on Victoria Derbyshire and made sure anyone not quick enough to the off switch knew that she was a victim of trolling. She had had to block 1500 other Twitter accounts (does anyone actually count blocks? I don’t).
Cue Pushback. “She is the troll” … “I had to to Block Ms Riley because of the Abuse and false accusations of AS she was throwing out - just because people had a different views to the great Ms Riley (who naturally as she is on the telly is beyond reproach)” … ”Rachel Riley is an online troll and a bully. So I hope the same rules apply to her” … “Rachel Riley playing the victim this morning going on about trolls. Yeah I blocked her for troll behaviour. I hate online abuse but you could argue she brought a lot on herself”.
And there was more. “Rachel Riley is on [Victoria Derbyshire] to talk about the trolls she gets etc yet she’s the biggest bloody troll out there herself” … “I'm confused. I thought Rachel Riley was one of these trolls? I don't remember anybody trolling her back before she started trolling people on Twitter”. And as to “don’t rise to the bait”, well … “I quite agree, I've had Rachel Riley blocked for months”.
There is serious abuse going on on social media platforms, and those quoted show how serious much of it is. Alongside that, Rachel Riley is just attention seeking.
Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by adding to its Just Giving page at
...and apparently said she would continue to call Jeremy Corbyn an antisemite till "her last dying breath".
ReplyDeleteThis is now, surely, actionable.
Riley seems to be one of those pointless empty-headed TV "celebrities" who assume an air of entitlement.
ReplyDeleteActually, she's entitled only to the same kind of treatment she doles out. But she's so fucking stupid she can't see it.
Once a charming and likeable TV personality, she has changed into a self-pitying, whining individual who has let money and success go to her head, and exclaims she has been the victim of online trolling on ego-massaging TV interviews when she has been more than prepared to dole it out herself, (unilaterally) telling people she doesn't like to either "F*** Off" or "Sod Off" among other provocative abuse, designed to goad or ensnare them.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope she goes off TV permanently, soon.
Riley is fond of litigation, she's currently suing Vox Political's Mike Sivier. In my view Riley is a troll and gets what she deserves.
ReplyDeleteI hope I'm not the only one spotting the irony of people anonymously denouncing her as a troll and throwing insults at her, while she, whatever your opinion of her is, at least goes by her own name online.
ReplyDeleteThis, folks, is why we can't have nice things.
How she's weaponised antisemtism- real or imagined- in her least favourite party. I took a taxi recently , from Camden into Euston. The cabbie told me a lot about the various celebs who he'd 'had in the back'. Some pleasant, some awful. But the worst by a long chalk are TV presenters who, in his words, 'can't sing, can't dance, can't act, can't do anything other than a piece to camera.' Full of entitlement, of a sense of importance and downright obnoxious. Hello Rachel Riley. Nice to meet you. Now f*** off and take your victimhood and hypocrisy with you.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you on about Andy McDonald? You failed to mention Riley's abusive tweets including to people like me claiming we "invent our Jewishness". Riley is proactive- and is not known for responding to tweets rather for sending them- quite nasty and abusive ones where she goes for the throat as the Hava Negila tweet amply demonstrates. Just because she does it under her own name doesn't bestow special status upon her, rather shows how dim she is.
ReplyDeleteSam,
ReplyDeleteA prominent poster on this site (under the tag of "anonymous") regularly (i.e. on the vast majority of articles) passes comment on the physical characteristics of those it disapproves of. Things such as "crooked mouth", or "snarling hate-filled face".
While I doubt that the fragrant Miss Riley visits here, I'm simply commenting on the irony that this site is home to a fair few trolls, lurking behind anonymity, keen to pass comment on people's physical appearance (especially if they're women), and if their posts are anything to go by, are themselves likely lacking in good looks and social skills.
In short, trolls. They might have opinions you agree with, but trolls all the same.
Thanks, Andy (42 year old civil servant from Liverpool).
She's a loathsome individual who I presume is out to court attention about her victimhood and moral crusade just in time for the legal battle with Mike Sivier. Seeing her on the TV today just made me once again donate to Mike's crowdfunder.
ReplyDelete@ 19:55.
ReplyDelete"...especially if they're women......themselves lacking in good looks or social skills..."
The irony appears to escape you even as you troll.
Must be the sea air in "Liverpool". Or something.