Many of the women who spoke to Amnesty International about the violence and abuse they experience on Twitter emphasized how important the platform is to them – both professionally and personally. Women rely on social media platforms like Twitter to advocate, communicate, mobilize, access information and gain visibility.

Pamela Merritt, a US blogger and reproductive rights activist, told us,

“I am a bit of a Twitter addict. I wake up, I check Twitter. I have two cups of coffee, and I check it again. Being online is important for my work. I want to know what’s going on. I want to know what people are saying and I want to weigh in, so I’m on Twitter through the day”.

Seyi Akiwowo, UK Politician and activist, talked about how Twitter makes her feel part of a movement and ‘puts words to her experiences’ of being a woman of colour. She told us,

“I feel torn. I love Twitter. The platform has connected me to people I will probably never see in my entire life and they are amazing, successful and inspirational people. There is now a massive movement of women of colour online. We express our beauty and confidence and talk about self-care and intersectional inequality…and so some of my life changing moments and development into womanhood has happened because of and via Twitter. I remember finding my first international job through Twitter. The possibilities and opportunities on that platform are endless.”

Imani Gandy, US journalist, also stressed how Twitter has become the epi-centre of communications and solidarity for marginalized communities. She explains,

“I think Twitter has become the new public square. I’ve found Twitter to be a really good platform for people who normally don’t have as much of a say in the political process. I’m talking primarily young people and people of colour. There is a reason that ‘Black Twitter’ is a thing. It has been really powerful that black people have been able to come together to reach out to other black people across the country. Whether it’s dishing about the latest episode of Scandal or organizing around Black Lives Matter – it has really become a powerful tool. And elite politicians are not used to having to answer to these types of people.”

Politicians themselves agree. Scottish Parliamentarian and Leader of the Opposition, Ruth Davidson, emphasized how important Twitter is as a tool to communicate and listen to her constituents and the wider public. She notes,

“Social media platforms are where a lot of political debate now happens, particularly as we see the divide in age range of voters. For a lot of younger voters, actually – they don’t want to be told things – they want to be able to discuss them.”

Twitter remains an important tool for women across industries. US writer Chelsea Cain told Amnesty International how she relied on Twitter to talk to other writers when she moved from writing novels to writing comics. She explains,

“I have a lot of friends who work in comics and we kept in touch via Twitter. The comic book industry uses Twitter like a bulletin board -- it's the place everyone comes when they have an announcement or a complaint. Readers. Editors. Artists. Writers. Colourists. Letterers. Everyone I know in comics is on Twitter. The platform really fuels a connection between creators and fans. Facebook is for novels. Twitter is for comics. Don't ask me why."

In addition to movement-building and networking, some women simply use Twitter to communicate what they are up to. Comics writer Kelly Sue DeConnick told us,

“Sometimes I use social media as a public figure to promote books and appearances. Often I use it just to be social with people, just to chat.”

But despite all the possibilities and the positive ways in which the platform is used by women on a daily basis, Twitter remains fertile ground for reinforcing existing gender inequalities and discrimination against women online. Harmful and negative gender stereotypes of women offline, as well as widespread discrimination against women rooted in patriarchal structures, manifest as violent and abusive tweets against some women on Twitter. All forms of violence and abuse against women, both in the physical and digital world, must be seen through the lens of the systematic marginalization of women throughout society. Violence and abuse against women on Twitter is not a new phenomenon, it is simply an extension of existing and systematic discrimination against women that has found its way into the digital sphere. As First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, explains,

“There’s a link between the misogyny and abuse that women experiences offline and online... Social media is just a different way of committing these acts. Ultimately it’s the misogyny lying behind it that is the problem. So, it’s that we have to tackle, not just the means by which people are able to spread their hate and misogyny and abuse.”

UK journalist Hadley Freeman agrees. She told Amnesty,

“I think there is a connection between the misogyny women face offline and the abuse they face online. I mean, a nice guy isn't going to be calling women "infected c*nts" online, is he?”

Women of colour, in particular, emphasized to Amnesty International that in addition to Twitter manifesting existing patriarchal structures in society, ideologies of white supremacy are also permeating into the platform. Renee Bracey Sherman, a US abortion rights activist, explained how the violence and abuse she experiences on social media platforms went to a deeper level when she started talking about reproductive rights issues or the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. She told Amnesty,

“When I started talking about abortion, the abuse on Twitter went to a deeper level. When I talked about BLM, it went to a deeper level. That’s the deep issue of how much white supremacy and misogyny is really embedded in our culture. And people are upset when marginalized folks, black folks, women of colour, trans women, trans folks – when they reclaim their narrative and are unapologetic – it makes people uncomfortable. And this primal level of attack comes out and they just say such disgusting things.”

Examples of abusive tweets sent to US abortion rights activist @RBraceySherman.

Many women interviewed by Amnesty International spoke about the fact that the online world, more generally, has created spaces where people feel emboldened to say things to people that they would not necessarily say offline.

Scottish Women’s Rights Activist Talat Yaqoob explains how the sexist, racist and Islamophobic abuse she receives on Twitter is far worse than anything she has experienced offline.

“I, 100%, don’t experience the level of abuse offline that I do online. I experience it – but the frequency of it and the toxic nature of it is more online than what I experience in real life because people know they get away with it more. If people do it, it’s behind an anonymous Twitter profile. Offline, you have to be physically in front of me. I don’t think that people understand the consequences of what they say online.”