Trans ally Georgia Tennant told that chilling Facebook death threats ‘don’t breach guidelines’
Trolls targeted Georgia Tennant, wife of actor David Tennant, on social media. (Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Trolls targeted Georgia Tennant, wife of actor David Tennant, on social media. (Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Trans ally Georgia Tennant has been targeted with online death threats.
Tennant, the wife of Doctor Who star David, urged Facebook and its boss Mark Zuckerberg to take action after an individual posted: “Whoever kills Georgia Tennant immediately will receive a reward from me.”
Responding on Instagram, she said: “Just been sent this by a friend. Out of curiosity, Facebook, what would constitute a breach of community standards?”
She included a screenshot of a moderator’s response, who judged that it did not need breach the platform’s rules so did not need to be removed.
“We use a combination of technology and human reviewers to process reports and identify content that goes against our community standards,” the response from Facebook’s parent company Meta reads. “In this case, we did not remove the content you reported.”
Other posts from the account are just as alarming, the Daily Mail reported.
“Soon there will be an obituary to read of a certain person,” another one reads. “Georgia Tennant must be killed.”
The person goes on to say: “David Tennant and I are meant for each other, we both belong together, and I will do everything to make David Tennant and I together.”
Some of Georgia’s celeb pals have offered support.
Singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor wrote: “I’m so sorry, that’s horrendous. Police matter, I’d say. Sending love.” Trans rights campaigner Jake Graf expressed much the same sentiment.
And actress Alice Evans said: “Georgia, take it to the police. They can force Meta to subpoena the details and IP address. This is outrageous. I understand because I get similar. This person needs outing to the world.”
Meta’s Hateful Conduct policy was updated in January and allows users to call LGBTQ+ people mentally ill.
“We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like ‘weird’,” the revised guidelines read.
Users are also allowed to claim there is “no such thing” as a trans or gay person, and can call members of protected groups “freaks” or “abnormal”.
Met chief executive Zuckerberg the changes “restor[ed] free expression” to the company’s platforms.
PinkNews contacted Facebook for comment and was told the posts in question have now been removed.
The social media platform encouraged people to use tools available on its platforms to help protect users against bullying and harassment
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