Southern Downs councillors hit back at anonymous social media keyboard warrior

Fed up with continuous online bullying and degrading sexist remarks by fake accounts, councillors at a regional Queensland council have returned serve. Here’s what they have to say.

Elected officials of a regional Queensland council have taken aim at a faceless social media account that has attempted to throw stones from their glass castle.

Southern Downs councillor Morwenna Harslett is the latest target of a cowardly fake social media account that has continued to denigrate women in power.

Southern Downs councillor Morwenna Harslett is the latest female leader to be targeted by cowardly online bullying. Photo: SDRC

The post appeared Monday evening in a group on Facebook. In the post Ms Harslett was compared to Australian Olympic breaking competitor B-girl Raygun, as the anonymous poster continued their tirade of hurtful and baseless comments.

It is understood the post was reported shortly after and taken down, with a fresh fake account claiming responsibility in a post to the group on Tuesday.

Ms Harslett posted a screenshot along with a statement on her social media pages, calling out the disrespectful behaviour.

An 'anonymous' member of a private Southern Downs social media page has targeted councillor Morwenna Harslett in their latest pursuit. Photo: Facebook

In having her say on ‘women having a go’ in reference to the anonymous posters’ attempt to shame Rachael Gunn, Ms Harslett said she was ‘chuffed’ to be compared to an Olympian.

“I am pretty chuffed to be compared to an Olympian, particularly as our Aussie women have done us PROUD AND THEN SOME in these games,” Ms Harslett’s post said.

“That #raygun competed in three rounds and didn’t score any points is no better or worse than the competitors who didn’t make it past the heats of the swimming or running. But they are all still AMAZING for having qualified in the first place.”

Ms Harslett went on to call out a number of the personal attacks in the anonymous post as ‘not very creative bullying’.

A number of Ms Harslett’s fellow and former colleagues showed their support, including councillor Cynthia McDonald, who has been repeatedly targeted by anonymous posts.

Mrs McDonald told Warwick Daily News the ongoing harassment of her fellow colleagues was an ‘absolute disgrace’.

“You put your hand up to help out your community and this is how you’re treated,” she said.

In a joint statement Southern Downs Regional Council said it was taking a stand against what it considered defamatory comments made on social media.

“Recent social media posts have been derogatory and disrespectful to women, community members with disabilities and our LGBTQIA community,” the statement said.

“They are offensive to all of us in the community, and we will not tolerate this unacceptable behaviour. This is not the community we are, and it’s not the community we want to be.

“We call on the moderators of social media sites in our region, and the friends and families of those posting these comments, to join us in saying to the perpetrators that disrespectful language and behaviour will not be tolerated in our region. Let’s stop it at the start.”

Originally published as Southern Downs councillors hit back at anonymous social media keyboard warrior