By Hugo Greenhalgh
LONDON, May 21 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A gay TV star from one of Britain’s leading reality shows called on the government on Thursday to do more to protect people online after receiving almost daily death threats and homophobic abuse during the coronavirus lockdown.
Bobby Norris, star of “The Only Way Is Essex” or TOWIE, said new laws that could trace and block IP addresses would prevent “trolls” from simply creating new profiles if banned from social media platforms as they could then be identified.
Norris told a parliamentary committee of crossbench lawmakers via weblink that people had to submit more information to get a supermarket loyalty card than a social media account.
“I feel like the law hasn’t had a chance to keep up with how big social media has become,” said Norris, who is leading a campaign for tougher sanctions for online trolling.
“I have a list of people who have taken their own lives as they couldn’t handle the abuse.”
A third of LGBT+ people in Britain have experienced online abuse because of their sexuality or gender identity, according to a 2016 Gallup poll. Many said they found it harder to report abuse than their heterosexual peers.
Norris, 33, who joined the reality TV show in 2012, was the first witness to submit evidence to parliament’s Petitions Committee as part of a new inquiry into tackling online abuse.
