BlondeInBlack

"Sometimes young boys on Facebook send me r*pe threats, so I've started telling their mothers."

Australian gaming journalist Alanah Pearce went viral after taking an unusual stand against the young boys sending her vile threats online.

While working as a reviewer and radio host, Pearce regularly faced misogynistic abuse and violent messages on social media. After discovering that many of the anonymous accounts belonged to school-aged boys, she decided there was little point trying to argue with them directly.

Instead, she searched through their public Facebook profiles, identified their family members and contacted their mothers.

Pearce sent screenshots of the abusive messages their sons had written, giving the harassment real-world consequences. In one case, a mother responded with shock and disappointment, promising to deal with her son’s behaviour.

Her approach gained widespread support, with many praising her for exposing the people behind anonymous accounts and making sure their actions were seen by the adults responsible for them.