Thread by @CarymaRules

Digital surveillance & impersonation.

In-person stalking.

Complaints to Law Society, Elections Ontario, City of Toronto & an employer.

Smear campaigns.

Targeting perceived supporters.

Sock puppetry.

Use of context collapse, gaslighting, thought terminating tactics & DARVO.

https://twitter.com/rayferron/status/1600134821035900928

For the past ~19 months, I have endured these strategies and more on a near-daily basis by self-proclaimed “antifascists” dead set on silencing my voice.

The harassment gets coordinated across platforms, with the goal of “de-scooterizing” (!!!) people who enjoy my work.

Amid the noise, there are a few mainstream journalists complicit in amplifying &/or contributing to false narratives about me.

Three of these journalists speak openly & bravely about their own experiences being attacked online, failing to see any contradiction in their actions.

To be clear, I unequivocally condemn harassment as a form of intimidation.

I also denounce the notion of bullying as activism.

These thoughts are related, because the normalization of bullying as activism gives cover to the use of harassment to intimidate private citizens.

I am suing @TheHillTimes columnist Erica Ifill for going out of her way to harass & defame me.

Many accounts participated in the resulting discourse, including @globalnews Rachel Gilmore and @TorontoStar Saba Eitizaz.

Even a victim can be a perpetrator.

hilltimes.com/story/2022/08/…

This thread provides context to the Erica Ifill situation.

Key takeaways:

1) There was no valid purpose to obtain & blast screenshots of my tweets. I locked my account the day before for unrelated reasons.

2) This was not her first unprovoked attack.

3) She evaded service.

https://twitter.com/CarymaRules/status/1598757295420211204

In direct response to my attempt to set the record straight, Erica Ifill and her supporters pivoted to attacking my race &/or skin colour.

It felt like insult added to injury, as described in the following thread:

https://twitter.com/CarymaRules/status/1599110169262071808

My threads include verifiable facts with minimal editorializing.

It isn’t easy to remain dispassionate as the subject of a story, but I never compromise on accuracy.

Does truthful storytelling constitute a “hit thread”?

Is it harassment to stand up to harassment by naming it?

Here is @TheHillTimes columnist Erica Ifill retweeting an anonymous account that was created last month, the majority of whose ~200 tweets are about me or @ItsDeanBlundell.

Note the defamatory insinuations framed as questions.

✅ smear campaign
✅ sock puppetry

Here is the same anonymous account hassling one of my law school profs for reacting to the video of Erica Ifill being served.

This is the reincarnation of a recently-deleted sock account that made hundreds of defamatory tweets about me.

✅ sock puppetry
✅ targeting supporters

Here is @TorontoStar journalist Saba Eitizaz alleging I have secret Twitter powers.

It is ironic to accuse me of “toxicity & obsession” while replying to an anonymous account tracking my RTs from behind a mutual block.

✅ digital surveillance
✅ smear campaign
✅ sock puppetry

I will not provide more from that anonymous account, which has hundreds of tweets analyzing my every tweet, retweet, reply, like, and follow under the guise of “research.”

It is stalking.

Meanwhile, on the opposite coast of Canada, another stalker.

✅ digital surveillance

Here is @globalnews journalist Rachel Gilmore implying I put a “target” on Erica Ifill.

She blames the victim (me) for harassment suffered by the oppressor (Erica) at the hands of third parties.

I reiterate that nobody deserves death threats, ever.

✅ DARVO
✅ context collapse

Again, harassment is vile.

But in our increasingly victim centric society, victim identity is powerful and can be used to oppress.

Anyone who is unsympathetic / critiques / seeks legal recourse against the “victim” can be smeared as a harasser.

Watch it happen in real time.

I refuse to root my identity in victimhood.

People come after me, and I brush it off like dirt on my shoulder. I have a wide arsenal of tactics to deal with bullies, none that are mean-spirited.

To the extent I claim victim identity, it is used as a shield not a sword.

I look forward (?) to seeing how this thread gets deliberately misinterpreted.

Though my adversaries lack productivity and kindness, they are unmatched at mental gymnastics.

That’s fine. I am used to projection and gaslighting.

I know this is not in my head.