John Oliver Explains How Trolls Make the Internet a Living Hell for Women


Online harassment is a serious problem, one that’s constantly perpetuated by internet trolls spewing direct and oftentimes violent threats to specific users. If you’re thinking this characterization is an exaggeration, John Oliver had the following message for you on Sunday:

“Congratulations on your white penis, because if you have one of those, you probably have a very different experience of the internet.” As he went onto explain, “women in particular can receive a veritable cornucopia of horrifying messages online.” 

On the latest Last Week Tonight, Oliver took the issue to task by talking to female gamers and writers, many of whom have been the targets of a wide range of threats and revenge porn. “It can potentially affect any woman who makes the mistake of having a thought in her mind and then vocalizing it online,” he explained.

It’s perhaps even more disturbing how little legal protection women have when faced with such harassment.

For more on internet harassment and the online movement known as #Gamergate, check out our in-depth report here.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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