The book ban movement has a chilling new tactic: harassing teachers on social media

[Demovictory9]

The book ban movement has a chilling new tactic: harassing teachers on social media
Educators who stand up to conservative activists are being harassed and called “groomers” online, turning them into potential targets for real-world violence.

Nancy Vera was awakened suddenly at midnight on July 12 by the sound of a single gunshot fired into her yard. She looked at a security camera just in time to see a truck speed away.

Vera was shocked but not surprised. The president of the Corpus Christi, Texas, branch of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), she had recently handed out books with LGBTQ characters at a pride event for local students, alongside a drag queen.



“This type of rhetoric is going to get people killed,” she says.

Corpus Christi, where Vera lives, has become a flashpoint for a growing push among Christian and conservative groups across the US to get certain books and topics they deem inappropriate for children removed from school libraries and curriculums. Now the fight is turning increasingly ugly, with people targeting individual teachers’ private social media accounts for scrutiny and even harassment.

On July 9, the conservative group County Citizens Defending Freedom (CCDF) held a public seminar in Corpus Christi about monitoring school curriculums and “researching social media of teachers, school board members, staff of school districts and elected officials,” effectively teaching people how to stalk and harass educators online.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/07/15/1055959/book-bans-social-media-harassment/

[Coventina]

1. This is why I avoid social media.......

[Docreed2003]

2. I believe this is exactly the intention behind this type of rhetoric

The far right expects the rest of us to fall in line with their beliefs, or, at best, face bullying and threats of violence and at worst, actual violence. These types have no shame and many are doing this all under the banner of religion.

[lambchopp59]

3. "County Citizens Defending Freedom"

First "freedom" on the agenda: who to restrict from freedom.
What to silence and censor.
Nazi motherfucker's "groomer" bullshit has gotten way out of hand:

[Timeflyer]

4. Thanks for posting! So important

These kind of terror tactics are being normalized by right wing groups supported by reThug politicians. Check out Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler and her husband Christian Ziegler.

[Buckeyeblue]

5. What if left leaning people refused to participate in Facebook, Twitter, etc?

My guess is that those outlets would crumble fairly quickly.

[ret5hd]

6. But my second-cousins-in-laws!?!?

How would I keep in touch with people that I don’t know well enough to call????

[Buckeyeblue]

7. LOL. I quit Facebook in 2012

I couldn't stand what was being posted about the Obama's. My wife asked me not to respond to the idiots. So I deleted my account. I honestly don't miss "keeping up" with people I knew in the past but have drifted away from. I think it's OK to drift away from people. Not everyone has to be a life long friend.

[murielm99]

8. We need to work to get all of these people

identified as hate groups. Publicize it.

[Martin68]

9. Cancel Culture at its worst.