Shooting documentary brought back nastiness of Twitter for Erin Molan

New e-safety documentary, Haters Online: Erin Molan Fights Back, captures a raw and vulnerable moment for the presenter. Find out what happened.

It was the moment that was unscripted, unplanned and caught Erin Molan completely off guard.

As the TV presenter logs into Twitter for the first time after being subjected to vicious and vile abuse on the social media platform, she is on the cusp of being “physically ill” and chokes back on tears.

The raw and vulnerable sequence was captured in the filming of her new e-safety documentary, Haters Online: Erin Molan Fights Back.

“There’s so much nastiness and bad memories associated with Twitter for me, but I didn’t realise how traumatic it was going to be for me,” the Sky News anchor said, after watching the opening scene back.

“What it does demonstrate is the depths to which this stuff can really hurt and inflict a lot of pain.”

And while Molan admits she never wanted the clip to be included, she’s now “glad” it made the cut.

Erin Molan of Sky News presents an e-safety documentary Haters Online: Erin Molan Fights Back. Picture: Belinda Rolland

“For me to survive, I just started ignoring it all. So Twitter, for me, was just a no go and I still won’t look at it. I have no interest in looking at it,” she said.

“I never shut down my account just because I kind of didn't want there to be another story off the back of me shutting it down.”

The one-hour Sky News documentary offers advice on staying safe online and features powerful interviews with victims of appalling digital abuse and experts.

There was one “heart stopping” chat that stopped Molan in her tracks.

“As a mum, the parents Amanda and Stuart who we interviewed over in the UK, whose son Olly was murdered off the back of social media, was impactful,” Molan said.

“I guess the point I was trying to make is that if someone is abusing you or threatening you on social media, that it can very quickly translate into a real life incident.

“And for these parents, their 13-year-old son was being subjected to some awful things online and he was then killed by those people.”

Erin Molan’s campaigning for change saw the introduction of new world-first online safety legislation in 2021. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Molan said she feared the role social media would play in her four-year-old daughter Eliza’s life.

“I think one of the things that I probably fear just as much as the safety element online is the body image issues online,” Molan said.

“She’s completely obsessed with her reflection at the moment.

“My advice and hope for her would be regardless of what she sees online, is to love her own reflection because it’s amazing and perfect.”

Molan, whose campaigning for change saw the introduction of new world-first online safety legislation in 2021, has come a long way in dealing with the abuse she copped for a decade.

“I went to some dark places at times, and I would really struggle to understand how I could be so hated,” she said.

“But misery loves company and I have learnt to understand that the abuse isn’t a reflection of me and what I do, it’s a reflection on them (trolls).”

Originally published as Shooting documentary brought back nastiness of Twitter for Erin Molan