You just never know when something horrid will rear it’s head on the internet and spit hatred for the world to see. Sadly, it seems to happen every day.
Unfortunately,
a bi-product of social media is that a platform is born for people to be rather
unpleasant from time to time – there are an abundance of accounts online that
exist purely to instigate trouble regarding anyone who looks, acts or thinks
differently.
It’s
a terrible truth that even children aren’t safe from this form of online abuse.
Bullying occurs on social media regardless of age, gender or social status – so
long as people can hide behind the anonymity of the web and take advantage of
being able to put down others to make themselves feel better, they will.
One
girl who has experienced the brunt of this is 9-year-old Sophia. The torment
she was subjected to went so far as people using her as an advertisement for
promoting abortion.
Sophia’s
mom, Natalie Weaver, responded as any mother would – she started a crusade
against the haters in a bid to protect her daughter.
In
the end, she would win an important victory …
Little
Sophia was born with facial disfigurement, though her hands and feet were also
deformed.
Early
on, she was diagnosed with Retts syndrome, a heart disease that permanently
affects children’s language and motor skills.
As
a result of her condition, Sophia’s family need to take care of her 24 hours a
day. Their daughter requires round the clock attention.
Of
course, life has hardly been easy for Sophia and her relatives – but they’ve
also sought the necessary strength and hope to continue, often in each other.
Fortunately,
Sophia gets plenty of love and support from her two siblings. Both of them love
her very much!
“She’s
had 22 surgeries,” mom Natalie told CNN. “She has a feeding tube. A colostomy
bag. She has seizures and choking spells because of both the deformities and
the Rett syndrome.”
Not
long ago, things began to change.
Two
years ago, there was a policy alteration relating to the local healthcare
system.
With
Natalie obviously being affected, she began to speak more publicly about her
daughter’s condition and the trials and tribulations the family face. It didn’t
take long before the internet trolls responded.
“People,
they seek you out and want to hurt you,” Natalie says. “There are people who go
out of their way to make sure you see their cruelty. I get people telling me to
kill my child, to put her out of her misery.”
Despite
Natalie’s best efforts, the hate was relentless. The trolls wanted their
message to be heard; they wanted Natalie to get it directly.
Not
only did one person use a photo of Sophia in a post designed to champion
abortion of children with extreme disabilities, they also made direct threats
to Natalie’s family.
“I
blocked it. I just hoped it was gone,” she said. “But it was never removed. The
account remained.”
Natalie
reported the troll account to Twitter. But time passed and little was done,
despite her doing her utmost to ensure the troll’s voice was silenced.
Natalie
asked her followers to report the hateful messages and spoke candidly with a
local news station in an attempt to draw attention to the violations. She hoped
that it would put the necessary pressure on Twitter to act.
She
outright refused to let the trolls win.
Eventually,
after a long battle, Natalie received a message from Twitter. The social media
giants apologised, removed all the comments and shut down the accounts
responsible.
Satisfied
with the results, but wanting to continue to do more, Natalie called for
Twitter to change the way it reviews hateful content aimed at people with
disabilities.
“Twitter
needs to add people with disabilities as a category in their violation
reporting,” Natalie says.
“Otherwise
people don’t know the appropriate category to select for hate towards people
with disabilities.”
A
spokesperson from Twitter directed CNN to the platform’s “hateful conduct
policy”.
According
to that page, “You may not promote violence against or directly attack or
threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual
orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability,
or disease.”
Naturally,
it’s been an extremely trying process for Natalie and her family, but by daring
to go public and revealing the abhorrent hate directed at her and her daughter,
she’s won an important battle.
The love of your child will always be more important than
DNA, skin colour or disabilities. Always remember that.
Please share this if you, too, think that all people are
equally worthy and deserved of a chance in life. All parents have the right to
make a family without suffering from the prejudice or harsh opinions of others.
Source : newsner.com