"labelling me as an Islamist paedophile admirer"
Bradford MP Naz Shah opened up about the extent of the vile abuse she has received from online trolls.
The Bradford West MP was speaking in the House of Commons on March 24, 2021, during a debate on online, anonymous abuse.
During the debate, Ms Shah asked what would happen to the hateful accounts if no action was taken against them.
She said: “What will happen to the hundreds of anonymous accounts whose Islamophobic, racist, misogynistic and hate-filled threats are left unchallenged on social media?”
Ms Shah went on to reveal her own experience of online abuse.
She said that anonymous online trolls had labelled her an “Islamist paedophile admirer”.
Ms Shah explained: “Tweets of me wearing a hijab falsely labelling me as an Islamist paedophile admirer, or others describing me as a cancer, that will lead to my destruction and the hundreds of others that are still online today.”
In 2020, Ms Shah received damages from Leave EU over a Facebook post that called her a “grooming gangs apologist”.
The post was uploaded in December 2019.
Naz Shah previously said that as a result of the post’s publication, she received significant abuse on social media.
In October 2020, Leave EU apologised for the post.
Part of its apology read:
“We accept that Ms Shah is not an ‘apologist’ for grooming gangs but is a vociferous campaigner for victims of grooming gangs.”
The Examiner reported that Ms Shah was paid damages for libel.
In a previous incident, Naz Shah reported a man to police after he performed a sex act on himself in front of her while on a London bus.
The unidentified man masturbated in front of Shah as she arrived at her workplace in Whitehall at 10:50 am on April 2, 2019.
She hoped that the CCTV on board the bus would help identify the suspect.
The Bradford MP spoke about the incident which left her shocked. She said:
“I was completely shocked and was feeling sick about it. He casually sat there.
“I didn’t know what to do with myself.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that.
“Women should be allowed to go about their business without this happening.”
She added that the man “had his bits hanging out” and was performing the sexual act as she got off the bus.
She went to the bus driver to report what had happened, however, the man had already left the bus.
Ms Shah reported the incident to two police officers and said that the Metropolitan Police were investigating it.
She took to Twitter to share what happened to her.
Ms Shah explained that she was not going to Tweet about it until she came across a YouTube video which said that 90% of people do not report indecent sexual behaviour.
She felt that if she did not report it, it would only add to that statistic.
She advised others to report incidents:
“Still feeling sick after reporting indecent sexual behaviour to Met Police on Transport for London bus earlier!
“Apparently over 90% goes unreported. Always report it to ensure it is stamped out. Text What, Where and When to 61016 or call 101.”
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