The Troll Hunter

In 2013, journalist Ginger Gorman was targeted by online trolls who were hell-bent on destroying her life and career. Here, she reveals the toll it took on her and her family, and why she decided to confront the issue head on

The tweet said, “Your life is over.” It was 11pm one night in the winter of 2013. My husband and I were sitting up in bed. In the next room, our two tiny daughters were sleeping. We were exhausted but wide awake. Adrenaline pumped through our veins as we watched the cyber hate roll in on my Twitter feed:

“When are you and your employers going to own up to the horrible thing you have done?

“You need to add paedophile enabler to your Twitter bio.”

While the relentless hatred and personal attacks were mortifying, the apparent death threat struck cold fear into our hearts. My husband, Don, and I quickly realised that location services were turned on for my Twitter feed and you could just about pinpoint our house on Google Maps. Had I, as a result of my work as a journalist, put my family in danger?

A few days later came another equally terrifying moment. Don found a photo of our family on the fascist social network Iron March. The now-defunct website carried the slogan “Gas the kikes” on its homepage. In the photo I was pregnant with our second child, and my older daughter, who was two at the time, was sitting on my husband’s shoulders. It was a terrible feeling to see that photo, taken with love for our family Christmas card, in such a hateful context. One commenter called me a bitch. “Look at the fucking beak on it,” another wrote.

My mother’s parents were Jews who fled the Holocaust. Some of our family members were gassed at Auschwitz. Yet despite the clear threat, there was no way to know if these people meant actual harm. We just had to sit and wait.