Ashley Judd is taking a stand against Twitter bullies with a stronger message than 140 characters could ever make.
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The Insurgent actress is planning on pressing charges over the startling amount of Twitter hate she received in response to her tweets during Kentucky’s Southeastern Conference championship victory last Sunday.
Judd spoke with the Today Show and explained why it was such a big deal. “The amount of gender violence that I experienced is absolutely extraordinary. And a significant part of my day today will be spent filing police reports at home about gender violence that’s directed at me in social media.”
Judd wants to make it clear that just because it’s on Twitter doesn’t mean it’s above the law.
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In the heat of the game, she wrote a quick tweet, accusing Arkansas of playing dirty, which spurred a backlash from internet trolls the actress never could have expected.
Warning: The following tweets are pretty horrifically explicit.
When when I express a stout opinion during #MarchMadness I am called a whore, c—, threatened with sexual violence. Not okay.
— ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) March 15, 2015
I am sorry to retweet but this is a typical example. “@Leeroy_MAX: .@AshleyJudd Go suck on Cal's two inch dick ye Bitch whore.”
— ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) March 15, 2015
Judd is far from the first person to receive horrific internet hate, but she is one of the first to not accept it as a new social norm.
“Everyone need to take personal responsibility for what they write,” Judd explained during the interview, “and not allowing this misinterpretation and shaming culture on social media to persist.”
Judd was sure to confirm that the tweets she received really were “that many people, that explicit, that overt.”
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Judd told the Today Show that she doesn’t expect the threats will actually be prosecuted, but that it’s more about sending a message because she’s fed up with the hate. Hopefully the actress will encourage more people who are experiencing online abuse to follow her example.
Watch her interview with the Today Show below.
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