Jump to content

Cybernat: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Urs Etan (talk | contribs)
152 edits
Comma
the person didn't know that Kennedy was going to die
Line 7: Line 7:
''[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]]'' stated in February 2013 that: "The problem is not limited to the nationalist side of the referendum debate, with the [[Scottish National Party|SNP]] complaining of Unionist "unitrolls" spreading online abuse."<ref name = "silence">{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/referendum-news/yes-campaigners-launch-bid-to-silence-cybernats.20084686| newspaper=The Herald| title=Yes campaigners launch bid to silence cybernats |first=Magnus| last=Gardham |date=2 February 2013 |accessdate=9 April 2014}}</ref> It also reported that the [[Yes Scotland]] campaign would monitor blog sites and Twitter in an attempt to police offensive comments by supporters of independence.<ref name = "silence"/>
''[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]]'' stated in February 2013 that: "The problem is not limited to the nationalist side of the referendum debate, with the [[Scottish National Party|SNP]] complaining of Unionist "unitrolls" spreading online abuse."<ref name = "silence">{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/referendum-news/yes-campaigners-launch-bid-to-silence-cybernats.20084686| newspaper=The Herald| title=Yes campaigners launch bid to silence cybernats |first=Magnus| last=Gardham |date=2 February 2013 |accessdate=9 April 2014}}</ref> It also reported that the [[Yes Scotland]] campaign would monitor blog sites and Twitter in an attempt to police offensive comments by supporters of independence.<ref name = "silence"/>


During the [[United Kingdom general election, 2015|2015 UK general election]] campaign, Labour called for the SNP to disown a candidate who had posted abusive comments on Twitter about Scottish unionists.<ref name = "hay smart">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-scotland-32433723 |title=Election 2015: Sturgeon condemns candidate Neil Hay tweets |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=23 April 2015 |accessdate=24 April 2015}}</ref> [[Nicola Sturgeon]], the SNP leader, condemned the comments but also pointed out that a Labour activist had abused nationalists.<ref name = "hay smart"/>
During the [[United Kingdom general election, 2015|2015 UK general election]] campaign, Labour called for the SNP to disown a candidate who had posted abusive comments on Twitter about Scottish unionists.<ref name = "hay smart">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-scotland-32433723 |title=Election 2015: Sturgeon condemns candidate Neil Hay tweets |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=23 April 2015 |accessdate=24 April 2015}}</ref> [[Nicola Sturgeon]], the SNP leader, condemned the comments but also pointed out that a Labour activist had abused nationalists.<ref name = "hay smart"/> [[Charles Kennedy]], former leader of the [[Liberal Democrats]], was the target of a campaign of on-line abuse by Cybernats during the election campaign.<ref>http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/scotland/article1568566.ece</ref> One of his abusers was identified as an SNP constituency official, who subsequently resigned.<ref>http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/snp-official-quits-over-charles-kennedy-online-abuse-1-3800372</ref><ref>http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-33109453</ref>

[[Charles Kennedy]], former leader of the [[Liberal Democrats]], was the target of a campaign of on-line abuse by Cybernats in the weeks before his death.<ref>http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/scotland/article1568566.ece</ref> One of his abusers was identified as an SNP constituency official, who subsequently resigned.<ref>http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/snp-official-quits-over-charles-kennedy-online-abuse-1-3800372</ref><ref>http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-33109453</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 05:47, 18 June 2015

Cybernat is a term used in the media of the United Kingdom to refer pejoratively to online supporters of Scottish independence.[1][2]

The term was apparently coined by Lord Foulkes[1][3] and was used by Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray in 2009.[4] It gained greater prominence during 2013, after mainstream media sources reported that Sir Chris Hoy had been subject to online abuse for expressing his support for unionism in Scotland.[5][6]

The Scottish edition of the Daily Mail undertook a campaign in January 2014 to "unmask" Cybernats.[7] The Daily Telegraph reported in March 2014 that a retired soldier had received some abusive messages from Cybernats, after SNP politician Roseanna Cunningham posted a message on Twitter showing a letter from the soldier asking for donations to Better Together.[8]

The Herald stated in February 2013 that: "The problem is not limited to the nationalist side of the referendum debate, with the SNP complaining of Unionist "unitrolls" spreading online abuse."[9] It also reported that the Yes Scotland campaign would monitor blog sites and Twitter in an attempt to police offensive comments by supporters of independence.[9]

During the 2015 UK general election campaign, Labour called for the SNP to disown a candidate who had posted abusive comments on Twitter about Scottish unionists.[10] Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader, condemned the comments but also pointed out that a Labour activist had abused nationalists.[10] Charles Kennedy, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, was the target of a campaign of on-line abuse by Cybernats during the election campaign.[11] One of his abusers was identified as an SNP constituency official, who subsequently resigned.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ a b "Cybernats and cyberbrits: How do they affect mainstream political debate?". www.news.stv.tv. STV. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  2. ^ Cochrane, Alan (7 March 2012). "Welcome to planet Cybernat where the air is toxic". The Daily Telegraph.
  3. ^ "Labour MP calls for independence supporters to be barred from debates". www.glawest.org. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Parties demand Salmond holds blog smear inquiry". BBC News. BBC. 29 November 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2014. Back in May I asked Alex Salmond to get a grip of these 'cyber nats' bloggers
  5. ^ "Geek, twerking & cybernat among words of the year". The Scotsman. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  6. ^ "cybernat: New Word Suggestion". www.collinsdictionary.com. Collins. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  7. ^ "Cybernats unmasked: Meet the footsoldiers of pro-Scottish independence 'army' whose online poison shames the Nationalists". Daily Mail. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  8. ^ Johnson, Simon (6 March 2014). "General accuses SNP minister of endangering his family after 'Cybernat' attack". Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  9. ^ a b Gardham, Magnus (2 February 2013). "Yes campaigners launch bid to silence cybernats". The Herald. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  10. ^ a b "Election 2015: Sturgeon condemns candidate Neil Hay tweets". BBC News. BBC. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  11. ^ http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/scotland/article1568566.ece
  12. ^ http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/snp-official-quits-over-charles-kennedy-online-abuse-1-3800372
  13. ^ http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-33109453
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Cybernat&oldid=667449781"