Disability Trolling by Ross Lannon

I’ve never understood why people feel the need to leave negative comments online.  Surely if you’ve got nothing nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all?  But sadly in today’s society, that’s not the case.  For those who don’t know, an internet “troll” is someone who deliberately tries to offend or attack somebody online by posting negative or derogatory comments.

I recently had an encounter with a “troll” myself, which has since opened my eyes to the increasing amount of disability hate online.  I’m fully aware that if you put yourself out there like I do in my line of blog work you become subject to public opinion.  However, that doesn’t give you a free pass to insult or offend.

My Experience

I recently featured in the 2021 Census campaign run by the LADbible group – a social media platform followed by millions of people.  In the campaign video, I was seen spinning around in my wheelchair whilst answering the question, “What do you want to be remembered for?”  My response was; ”Not letting my disability hold me back”.  A few days later, I noticed one of the most popular comments under this video was from a user who said:

For the purpose of not generating anymore hate, I’ve covered the person’s username and profile photo.

Whilst I know this isn’t the worst comment in the world, it frustrated me that so many other people were still ‘liking’ it and fuelling the idea that this type of response is ok.

I like to think I have a pretty good sense of humour as I often take the mick out of myself.  However, when it’s a stranger making ignorant comments about the disabled community, I couldn’t help but feel annoyed.  The worst part about it was that this same person had also messaged me privately trying to justify his comment.  He admitted that he knew it wasn’t nice by saying, “that’s just what happens on the internet” – which for me makes the whole situation even more infuriating!

What Are We Going to Do About It?

The reason I’m talking about this today is because I think it’s an important issue to highlight.  Many disabled people are faced with hateful comments every day, often disguised as jokes, both in person and online and it’s not ok.  Shelby Lynch who is a disabled model and online influencer, recently started a petition in order to educate children on disabilities within schools.  I am a big supporter of this theory as I believe the only way we’re going to cut down on these negative attitudes is by educating the young and improving the representation of disabled adults within the media.  Shelby’s petition has already gained over 11,000 signatures and counting.

If you’d like more information or to sign and share the petition yourself, click the link below.

https://www.change.org/p/boris-johnson-educate-children-on-disability-in-schools