[Thread] 1/ Here is my thread on the hashtag "Owen Jones is a Wanker". The hashtag is a prime example of how people are weaponizing @Twitter to both spread disinformation & bully outspoken activists. Those promoting is should be ashamed, and named cc @OwenJones84
@Twitter @OwenJones84 2/ I downloaded 9568 Twitter interactions from around from 5177 unique accounts. The initial tweet was actually sent on 12 December from @AwesomelyRight - However it did not start trending until 21 December at around 13:00 UTC. See graph and screenshot > 
@Twitter @OwenJones84 @AwesomelyRight 3/ Below on the network graph you see accounts (nodes/circles) that tweeted on the hashtag. For now, the size of the node equates to the biggest influencer on the hashtag. As we can see, the self described 'biggest bitch in britain' @KTHopkins was the most influential account
@Twitter @OwenJones84 @AwesomelyRight @KTHopkins 4/ The most popular tweet on the hashtag was one by @KTHopkins , screenshotted below, in which she expresses pride that a hashtag bullying someone is trending. It was retweeted over 1,300 times. Hopkins has over 1 million followers. There is more of course....
@Twitter @OwenJones84 @AwesomelyRight @KTHopkins 5/ Other popular accounts tweeting on the hashtag include @leekern13 - a writer and producer of shows that have been on C4 and E4.
@Twitter @OwenJones84 @AwesomelyRight @KTHopkins @leekern13 6/ Some other accounts are not influential per se, but tweet or retweet the hashtag a lot. Accounts such as @OorWullieBroon are a good example of this. Not highly followed, but still very vocal.
@Twitter @OwenJones84 @AwesomelyRight @KTHopkins @leekern13 @OorWullieBroon 7/ An analysis of the biographies of those tweeting the term reveals that the most common words in the account biographies are "Brexit", "Trump" is the eighth most common word! You'll notice love, hate & the EU up there. As we've seen before, lots of ppl 'love Europe, hate EU"
@Twitter @OwenJones84 @AwesomelyRight @KTHopkins @leekern13 @OorWullieBroon 8/ The accounts mentioning Trump are almost exclusively those who admire Trump, who is not known for his progressive position on minority issues... Note all the MAGA accounts. We can deduce, without much surprise, the accounts supporting this hashtag are largely very right wing
@Twitter @OwenJones84 @AwesomelyRight @KTHopkins @leekern13 @OorWullieBroon 9/ Another aspect to the tactics are to report Owen to @TwitterSupport - as in the case of this tweet. There is an irony to someone reporting censorship to Twitter while encouraging dog piling and bullying.
@Twitter @OwenJones84 @AwesomelyRight @KTHopkins @leekern13 @OorWullieBroon @TwitterSupport 10/ Some other highly followed accounts that tweeted or retweeted the hashtag. One, an award winning film maker @StinsonHunter even retweeted someone who was threatening to punch Owen Jones's teeth out
@Twitter @OwenJones84 @AwesomelyRight @KTHopkins @leekern13 @OorWullieBroon @TwitterSupport @StinsonHunter 11/ That's it for now. Some accounts I do not know have replied saying this thread could encourage bullying. Nope. If you publicly post on a hashtag calling someone a wanker then you're doing it because you want people to hear. I don't advocate bullying anyone, hence this thread
12/ Update: as a result of this thread I've had a lot of trolling, much of which is trying to smear as an antisemitic. Of course this is absurd, irrelevant to the issue at hand, and deliberately emotive. This is apparently what happens when you call out cyber bullying
