Sorry to break the news, but you did not report the person behind that blog. Instead, you reported me. And I am still suffering the consequences.
I did not run that blog. Yes, they used my image. All my pictures from Facebook and Instagram, my statuses, even the captions. And then interspersed them with animal abuse images, fantasies about beastiality, other fucking disgusting sentiments.
You people found my Facebook, where I listed my wildlife rescue group. You didn’t think, for a moment, that it was odd that none of these abuse fantasies appeared on Facebook. A girl who was apparently willing to put her face, her location, the names of her family her local fucking vet clinic on her zoophilic Tumblr page, strangely had none of these thoughts on a just-as-public Facebook page.
Not one single person thought, “This is a bit odd, maybe I should reach out to this person just to confirm that it’s them.”
You people, high on some fantastical idea of justice, called the authorities. And I did not even know about the existence of the blog until the RSPCA showed up on my doorstep one night.
THEY, thankfully, had the sense to believe me. As soon as they showed me the page and I broke down in tears, they got the idea. So they told me to go to the police. The police palmed me off to ACORN (a cybercrime body) who dismissed the case because “nobody in the images was under the age of 18.”
Meanwhile, Tumblr had taken the page down, only for it to resurface again last year.
I then pursued a civil case. Emailed lawyers in my local city. They advised me only to take it to Tumblr, who shut down the page a second time. No further action was taken.
I never received another call from wildlife rescue because I was unable to prove that I did not run this disgusting blog. Wildlife is my biggest passion in the world and I may never work in that industry until I can clear my name.
So I messaged this page - report-a-predator. They told me to prove it - fair enough. So I sent them EVERYTHING. The screenshots, my emails to ACORN and SAPOL and Tumblr and the lawyers. They did not respond. I emailed them again, begging them to clear my name. They did not respond.
I am furious. I am fucking enraged that this post even still exists on their page, because the actions of this so-called “justice group” has directly impacted the life of an innocent person and they will do nothing to acknowledge it. Not even respond to a simple email. Not even take down the incriminating post.
I know my blog is tiny, I know nobody follows it, I know this will probably never be seen. But I am not going to be silent.
If you’re ever caught up in a whirlwind of pseudo-justice, maybe check the facts first.
That disgusting blog (report-a-predator) is still going and reboots shitty call outs and doesn’t care about helping any irl people
Online mob justice isn’t just unhelpful, it’s actively detrimental.
Hey, remember that time the internet “found” the Boston Bomber and harassed him into killing himself?
Abusers have also used this mentality to track down “missing” people. Checking facts on literally any post that may affect an actual real human being is far less satisfying than having to think about consequences (especially when those consequences don’t actually impact you)
Wanna know why I don’t reblog callout posts? This shit is why I don’t reblog callout posts.
Random dicks online think they’re tied with Batman for the title of world’s greatest detective but actually can’t fact check for shit. Or won’t even bother to. And that makes them dangerous.
