Rosie Jones fans 'in tears' and 'mad as hell' as she opens up about ableism in documentary
Rosie Jones fans said they were "in tears" and "mad as hell" after watching her moving documentary about the abuse faced by her and other disabled people.
The comedian, who has cerebral palsy, explored online trolling and ableism - the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities - in Rosie Jones: Am I A R****d?
It saw Jones sharing some of the abusive and ableist comments she has received on social media, including threats of violence.
Read more: Rosie Jones defends controversial title of her upcoming Channel 4 documentary
The documentary aired on Channel 4 on Thursday (20 July) and many viewers said they were left upset and angry.
"Dear Rosie, only a quarter of a way through your programme about ableism and I'm mad as hell for you and in tears," one tweeted.
"I was moved to tears by this, definitely not an easy watch," said another.
"But we need more voices like Rosie's in this world, I hope this inspires change and ends online abuse."
"How awful for her, proper eye opening programme, people are pure evil," said someone else, who urged the star: "Keep being you!!"
"Watching the #RosieJones documentary and I’m so angry," said someone else.
"I can only assume that like all bullies, these trolls are cowards and for the few seconds they are posting feel a power and control they don’t possess in their life away from social media. Rosie’s amazing."
What do social media platforms say about ableism?
Twitter tells users that “you may not directly attack other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease”.
The site said that its mission “is to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information, and to express their opinions and beliefs without barriers”.
“Free expression is a human right – we believe that everyone has a voice, and the right to use it,” its guidelines say.
The guidelines say that if people experience abuse on Twitter, it can jeopardise their ability to express themselves and that research has shown that some groups of people are disproportionately targeted with abuse online.
“We are committed to combating abuse motivated by hatred, prejudice or intolerance, particularly abuse that seeks to silence the voices of those who have been historically marginalised," it says.
"For this reason, we prohibit behaviour that targets individuals or groups with abuse based on their perceived membership in a protected category.”
Instagram said that its aim is to “foster a positive, diverse community”.
It removes content “that contains credible threats or hate speech, content that targets private individuals to degrade or shame them, personal information meant to blackmail or harass someone, and repeated unwanted messages”.
“We do generally allow stronger conversation around people who are featured in the news or have a large public audience due to their profession or chosen activities,” it says.
The platform’s guidelines say that it is “never OK to encourage violence or attack anyone based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, disabilities or diseases”.
Read more: Who is Rosie Jones? Comedian faces backlash for Channel 4 documentary title
“When hate speech is being shared to challenge it or to raise awareness, we may allow it,” it goes on.
“In those instances, we ask that you express your intent clearly.”
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