The newly-elected Wollongong Lord Mayor has revealed she was targeted by misogynistic online trolls during her successful election campaign.
Councillor Tania Brown, the first female Lord Mayor of Wollongong, told students on RadioU at the University of Wollongong today she had received misogynistic and homophobic comments on her social media pages.
“I have had comments made about the sexuality of members in my family,” Clr Brown said.
“I recently had someone tell me I was a woman and I should go home and menstruate there.”
The Lord Mayor said she did not delete or hide the comments to highlight the abuse public figures, especially women, face online.
“I left that comment on my Facebook page because I wanted people to see the sort of rubbish that gets said, particularly to women in a public place,” Clr Brown said.
AUDIO: Lord Mayor Tania Brown comments about online trolls as part of interview with RadioU (7.11)
She said she uses social media to connect with the Wollongong community and to hear its concerns.
“People keep telling me don’t read the comments but I do think it is important to know what your community is saying,” Clr Brown said.
“But that has to be tempered with are these people really from my community or is it some AI bot that’s just being horrible.
“I welcome a diversity of opinions.
“When I speak to people out in the community they are passionate and very genuine about their concerns.
“It’s great to hear from people what they think council should deliver and, as long as it happens in a respectful way, I’m happy to hear from them.
“[Social media] is a great place to have a debate and for people to easily share their opinions but I find they can get a bit fixated and take it too far.”
Clr Brown said it was not the first time she had experienced trolling online.
In her first term on council, she was targeted over her support of the LGBTQ+ community and a rainbow crossing outside the Novotel on Cliff Road.
“[The rainbow crossing] that’s one of the things I get trolled about a lot, but bring it on,” she said.