The lid has been lifted on the scale of intimidation faced by election candidates with the launch of a major report which will put pressure on social media companies and political parties to stamp out abuse.

There is deep concern that people are put off standing for office because of fear of the personal attacks suffered by many candidates.

The Committee on Standards in Public Life was presented with evidence showing:

  • 33% of candidates experienced ‘inappropriate’ behaviour during the election campaign;
  • 56% are concerned about abuse and intimidation;
  • 31% say they are fearful.

The committee was told that “no female MP who was active on Twitter has been free from online intimidation”.

It was also presented with evidence showing that 68% of 118 Conservative candidates said they had experienced “inappropriate, intimidatory behaviour”, compared to 36% of the 229 Labour candidates.

Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott reportedly received the most abuse. Black and Asian women MPs “received 35% more abusive tweets than white women MPs”.

Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris

Swansea East Labour MP Carolyn Harris said she regularly received online comments about her size and her appearance.

She said: “You have got to rise above it but it’s not unusual to have somebody pass comment on my size, on my dress sense.

"I’m a large lady, I’d like to think I present myself quite well but I’ve had quite a lot of comments about the fact I look garish – how much cake do I eat?”

Ms Harris said her husband and son were upset by the online attacks she received.

She said: “If you allow it into your space it can demoralise you but you’ve just got to put a wall up, haven’t you, and say, ‘I know what I’m doing is good, I know what I’m doing is right, and what people think about me in terms of negativity really isn’t worth my attention.”

But she added: “If I stop and think about it, yes, it upsets me greatly.”

Amnesty International is concerned

Amnesty International warned there is a “real danger that high levels of online abuse against women MPs will have a chilling effect on women taking part in public life – particularly women of colour.”

Carmarthen West and Pembrokeshire South MP Conservative Simon Hart, a member of the committee, said: “The net is slowly closing on social media companies and the idea that they just carry on forever sort of looking in the other direction when it comes to some of the stuff that they facilitate on their platforms, those days are coming to an end.”

He is also adamant that political leaders must show more leadership, saying: “There was precious little steerage from the top of the political parties as to what was acceptable behaviour by activists.”

A raft of proposals are put forward in today’s report to tackle abuse:

  • The Government bringing forward legislation to “shift the liability of illegal content online towards social media companies”;
  • Social media companies ensuring they are able to make decisions “quickly and consistently on the takedown of intimidatory content online”;
  • The Government consulting on the introduction of a “new offence in electoral law of intimidating parliamentary candidates and party campaigners”;
  • Political parties working together to develop a joint code of conduct on intimidatory behaviour during election campaigns by December 2018.

Abuse is now 'viral'

Anglesey's Albert Owen

Anglesey Labour MP Albert Owen said: “The serious point about intimidation and abuse is it’s become – excuse the pun – viral since social media [arrived]. It really has exacerbated the problem.

“Every MP and every candidate experiences it to varying degrees.”

Pressing social media companies to take more responsibility, he said: “I mean, I take responsibility over my own website [so] all we’re asking is that people in whose name it is as the host take that responsibility seriously.”

'My daughter removed me as a Facebook friend'

Montgomeryshire's Glyn Davies

Montgomeryshire Conservative MP Glyn Davies described how his own family had reacted to the online abuse he received.

He said: “Unbeknownst to me, my daughter removed me as a Facebook friend simply because she couldn’t stand seeing it.”

However, he says he is a “big fan” of Facebook and enjoys taking part in debates online. In contrast, he considers Twitter “absolutely revolting” and argues the anonymity people can assume on this service encourages greater hostility.

He said: “Twitter is no value to me at all. A lot of politicians think Twitter is of value – it is of nil value...

“Facebook is different.”

Mr Davies said the level of abuse in politics today would make him “think twice” about standing for election if he wasn’t already in politics.

He said: “It ensures the only people who stand for election are a certain type... The only people who are willing to stand are those who are able to shrug off seriously offensive attacks on them.

“I’m like that, I just ignore it, it doesn’t affect me, but I would think twice before standing if I wasn’t [an MP].”

Chris Elmore was first elected to the House of Commons in 2016
Chris Elmore was first elected to the House of Commons in 2016

Ogmore Labour MP Chris Elmore also pushed for action, saying: “The last two years have proven to be an incredibly divisive period in UK politics. The barrage of abuse directed at parliamentary candidates during the 2017 general election was totally unacceptable.

“Difference of opinion cannot and should not be an excuse to direct verbal or physical abuse at an individual or group. When people sink to such tactics, they delegitimise their arguments and make progressive change less easy to achieve.”

This is how Twitter responded

People do not have to use their real name on Twitter

Nick Pickles, UK Head of Public Policy for Twitter, defended the company, saying: “Abuse and harassment – no matter the victim – have no place on Twitter. As the report notes, our team uses technology to proactively find abusive content and provides users with a single report that they can email to the police.

“We’ve also introduced an entire suite of new tools for users to control their entire Twitter experience. We’re now taking action on 10 times the number of accounts every day compared to the same time last year and using new technology to limit account functionality or place suspensions on thousands more abusive accounts.

“We’re also launching more updates both this week and next that are aimed at continuing to expand the scope of our safety efforts across the platform. We remain committed to playing our part in the electoral process and working with political parties to support candidates, as well as working with the police and parliamentary authorities to facilitate their vital work.”

Here is what Facebook had to say

A Facebook spokeswoman said: “We want parliamentarians and election candidates to feel safe on Facebook. During the 2017 UK general election we offered advice and training to over 5,000 candidates on how to report abusive content and keep their accounts secure.

“We also provided a dedicated rapid response channel so that we could respond to their concerns quickly, and tried to educate as many candidates on this useful tool once the snap election was called.

“This report shows there is a fundamental problem of disrespect and abuse in our politics, which is as hard to tackle online as it is offline... [This] is a shared challenge which everyone needs to do more to address.”