Online abuse poses a threat to our democracy, warns Leeds council chief executive Tom Riordan

The rise in abuse and threats aimed at politicians and others online poses a threat to open democracy, the chief executive of Leeds City Council has warned.
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Tom Riordan fears that without a concerted effort to tackle this unacceptable behaviour, a whole generation could be put off playing an active role in civic life.

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He is also concerned that as social media sites become increasingly hostile, public figures will withdraw and debate of important issues will move back behind closed doors.

Leeds City Council chief executive Tom Riordan. Picture: Tony JohnsonLeeds City Council chief executive Tom Riordan. Picture: Tony Johnson
Leeds City Council chief executive Tom Riordan. Picture: Tony Johnson
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“I think part of my job is to open to criticism and transparent over actions I’ve taken to the public because they’re paying my wages,” Tom said. “I completely agree with that and I don’t shy away from it, but it’s the difference between criticism and abuse.

“If it continues, then people like me will just come off social media and go into a position where we’ll just regress to doing things in a very bureaucratic way. I think that would be wrong.”

His comments come as the Yorkshire Evening Post continues its Call It Out campaign, which is sharing real life experiences of abusive online behaviour and asking our readers to help play their part in reporting it to social media platforms and, where necessary, the police.

Like others who have given their support to the campaign, Tom said he had noticed a change in the way some people interact on social media.

The Yorkshire Evening Post's Call It Out campaign is asking our readers to help play their part making social media a better place for everyone.The Yorkshire Evening Post's Call It Out campaign is asking our readers to help play their part making social media a better place for everyone.
The Yorkshire Evening Post's Call It Out campaign is asking our readers to help play their part making social media a better place for everyone.
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“I was quite an early adopter of Twitter,” he said. “I’ve got friends who went into the tech industry and told me about it.”

He joined a few years after the platform was created, at a time when he was chief executive of the now defunct Yorkshire Forward.

“I saw it as quite an opportunity to be a bit more open and give more of a human face to what can be quite a faceless, bureaucratic job like mine,” he said. “I wanted to use it as a way of opening up what at the time was seen as quite a closed organisation.

“In the early years of it all, I genuinely feel it was really quite an engaging and positive experience. You would get challenged by people but you would be able to have a sensible debate with them in public in a way that was not just leading to getting pilloried by people.”

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Despite a noticeable increase in abusive behaviour from some users of social media platforms, Tom’s initial belief in the benefits it can bring still outweighs the harm he sees.

“I do still think it’s overall a force for good because it does open things up and make things much more transparent when you’re dealing with public issues. I guess the way I see it is sometimes it is giving a voice to people who don’t necessarily get heard, whether that’s the charity sector or perhaps some of the unsung heroes in our council who don’t get the acknowledgement.

“However, there’s a really nasty streak to social media which is usually, I have to say, people who are talking through anonymous accounts.”

The ability to create anonymous accounts is something that can divide opinion, with critics saying it allows people with malicious motives to spread hate without fear of any repercussions but advocates pointing out that in some parts of the world it is an essential tool for people who unable to speak freely.

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Tom believes that in democratic nations such as the UK, it would be possible to have a better, more constructive dialogue if anonymous accounts were no longer allowed on social media.

He suggests that another idea might be that people in public institutions adopt a policy of not replying to anonymous accounts or muting them.

On the changing nature of social media, he said: “I’ve had some really horrible abuse over the last few years. It’s a minority of people but it’s been quite difficult at times. I think there’s more abuse and it’s more difficult for women at times.

People feel somehow it is acceptable to put racist and misogynist comments onto social media in a way where they wouldn’t in work or leisure. I’m really supportive of the YEP calling it out and I think now we need to continue to call it out.”

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The campaign has already won the backing of former councillor Alison Lowe and a number of MPs, who have spoken about the way the dominance of social media in our lives has changed the way they engage with the public.

Tom said: “I do think there’s a problem that politicians get a level of abuse at times which is unnecessary and unhelpful. It will eventually put people off going into politics.

“I think for politicians there’s a real issue about just having a line that needs to be drawn at times. Most of the politicians I’ve dealt with – and I’ve dealt with lots over the years – 99.9 per cent of people are in it for the right reasons.”

In his experience, politicians from right across the spectrum will try to find ways to work together for their city.

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He added: “Yes, there’s politics and it’s very vitriolic at times – but there’s a line people don’t cross. I think social media does draw a minority of members of the public into a level of abuse that’s just not acceptable.

Politicians are not fair game. Of course they can be criticised and people can disagree strongly with that they’re saying, but they shouldn’t be abused just for their beliefs. We’ve got to leave room for genuine debate.”

Striking the balance between allowing free speech and protecting people from harm is undoubtedly a challenge, but some would argue that letting abusive behaviour to go unchecked risks stifling free speech in another way since many will feel unable to speak without fear of a backlash.

“We’ve got to protect it by saying there’s a line in law that you shouldn’t step over in terms of abusing people,” Tom said. “I think we’ve got to tackle it or eventually everybody will vote with their feet and stop putting themselves out there. It will return to a more closed and less fruitful debate.”

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