The ABC News Breakfast host Lisa Millar says the amplification of misogynist online abuse has made her angry on behalf of Australian women – but the supportive response gave her hope progress is being made for women in the public arena.
The minister for women, Katy Gallagher, told Wednesday morning’s program on International Women’s Day that gender equality cannot be achieved while experiences like Millar’s affect the choices they make to enter jobs in public life.
Gallagher called out news organisations who republished online harassment for prioritising “clickbait” over community responsibility to tackle the problem.
“Amplifying it, repeating it, providing clickbait to generate readers, or customers to your site, I think is completely unacceptable because it makes the problem worse,” Gallagher said.
The ABC yesterday accused News Corp and the Daily Mail of amplifying misogynist social media abuse by publishing articles that included “vile” Twitter criticism of an outfit worn by Millar.
After Gallagher’s interview following the release of the government’s first Status of Women report card on International Women’s Day, Millar said: “I’d actually like to take a minute to talk about what went on during the last 48 hours.”
“The fact that what I wore on Monday attracted obnoxious commentary on Twitter, foul, disgusting, personal abuse that I wouldn’t and couldn’t repeat here, it was upsetting.
“That it then ended up online on some new sites where the photos and the abuse were republished made me angry.
“On this International Women’s Day, angry on behalf of myself, and also on behalf of other women, young women who see those stories and see someone like me being violently abused day after day for whatever reason bullies can find.
“I worry it might make you think that no progress has been made and that it’s not worth it to be a woman in the public arena.
“On this International Women’s Day I want to tell you the response over that rubbish yesterday actually gives me a bit of hope. We are making progress, we are going to make more progress …
“Please make a conscious decision today to be part of the solution. Play a part in making our communities and better, kinder place for everyone.”
Her co-host, Michael Rowland, praised Millar, saying: “We’ve all seen behind the scenes here you’ve gone through a lot. You’ve gone through the absolute wringer in the last couple of days.
“For you to be sitting here this morning is a testament to your courage and strength.”
Rowland said Millar was “too nice” to name news.com.au or the Daily Mail as the outlets that amplified those comments. “The editors of both websites should hang their heads in shame,” he said.
Gallagher said she was concerned that incidents like Millar’s affected the decisions of Australian women.
“For women in public life unfortunately, at the moment, this is part of our experience … if we want to pursue careers that are in the public life, our choice is put up with it, or withdraw from it,” the minister said. “It’s not an acceptable situation at all.
“And we know that it impacts on women’s choices… we’re not going to have a gender-equal Australia if people are seeing Lisa’s experience and others’ experience.
“It will mean that women choose not to go and pursue careers where they have to make or endure that kind of online abuse.”
