Latest news with #trolling
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Influencers react to Indy Clinton's private investigator reveal
One of Australia's most well-known influencers says she has hired a private investigator to find her most prolific alleged trolls, sending her huge fan base into a tailspin. Indy Clinton, 27, is an influencer known for documenting her life with her three children and is often trolled relentlessly. However, Clinton was fed up with the alleged trolling and hired a private investigator to look into the biggest anonymous accounts, who she claims were giving her trouble in an attempt to uncover their identity and bring legal action. Australians are able to sue online trolls when it comes to abusive messages and emails. On Sunday, the mother-of-three posted a video of herself dancing in her kitchen after being handed a binder. 'How it feels receiving a 64 page report from my PI after an extensive three month investigation on all my ladies (mothers) who have continiously (sic) bullied, defamed and trolled me and my family for months and months and even years,' she said. The internet lost their minds at the WAG-atha Christie-esque move, with several influencers praising the TikTok Creator of the Year 2023 winner. Tarah Elizabeth, who documents her ADHD and pregnancy journey said a 'huge thank you' to Clinton.' 'For so long, it's felt like we just have to cop it. Like these people can say whatever they want, spread fake stories, push harmful narrative and fuel hate … all without consequences,' she said. 'But here the truth: you're not above the law. You're not protected from defamation. And you're not truly anonymous behind your burner accounts (the ones they make after we block them). 'We block you, and you come back. It's relentless. It's damaging. And it's enough. 'Thank you, Indy, for speaking up and starting this conversaton (sic). This culture of belittling, bullying and hiding behind your keyboads (sic) had gone way too far and it's enough.' Lucy Jackson called the move 'iconic', saying that the bullies were starting to get what was coming. Brittney Saunders, a content creator and the woman behind FAYT the Label also congratulated Clinton. She claimed people like the accused are usually creator's 'number one fan'. 'This was always going to happen and I am glad she has come out and said, 'Look out, I've got all of your information,' Saunders said. 'I'm all for influencers, content creators and celebrities being called out when they're genuinely doing something wrong but people hiding behind faceless accounts or anonymous accounts and just relentlessly ripping on people that they don't even know is just disgusting behaviour.' She said relentlessly picking on how someone looks is not freedom of speech — it's obsession. Some people have questioned Clinton's decision to hire the private investigator, with one person claiming she recently said she wasn't bothered by trolls. 'Yeah, I actually do remember saying that — believe it or not — and I probably said it because I was collecting and collating all the information for my PI so I wanted to throw you off scent,' she said. 'Moving forward, online trolling and bullying is going to effect (sic) someone. We aren't robots on here. We are actual human beings with emotions and real life families and hearts.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE 'King of Trolls' faces avalanche of legal claims: Tattle Life creator will be served with raft of lawsuits from 'defamed' social media users, experts say after he was sued by 'harassed' couple
The creator of Tattle Life could face a raft of new lawsuits from stars defamed on his website after he was unmasked as the King of Trolls, experts told MailOnline today. Vegan influencer Sebastian Bond, 43, was exposed after a couple won a £300,000 libel payout over vile claims posted about them on the so-called 'trolls' paradise', which he quietly founded eight years ago. Tattle Life became an unchecked breeding ground for bullying, 'doxxing' and outright lies. Targets of trolling on the site have ranged from 'traditional' celebrities such as Victoria and David Beckham, and TV presenter Stacey Solomon, to so-called 'influencers' such as Molly-Mae Hague, down to 'mummy bloggers' with tiny followings. Even former Great British Bake-Off judge and national treasure Mary Berry is the subject of at least one thread, with users branding her 'bitchy, patronising and cold'. After a two-year legal battle, Northern Ireland 's High Court awarded Neil and Donna Sands damages for defamation and harassment after hearing they were the target of a 45-page thread. Persephone Bridgman Baker, a partner at Carter-Ruck, has suggested that the so-called King of the Trolls, Sebastian Bond, could now face a flurry of new court cases. He also uses the alias Bastian Durward. She told MailOnline: 'The unmasking of Sebastian Bond is a legal milestone for the content creators, influencers and celebrities who have been persistently harassed on the toxic website Tattle Life. Bond has admitted his role as the website founder, and his identification may lead to claims by others named on the site. 'There is the potential for claims in defamation, misuse of private information and harassment against individuals who have posted on the website, as well as against Bond as the operator if certain additional requirements are met, which could result in damages awards'. The site, which attracts 12 million visitors a month, is supposedly aimed at exposing disingenuous influencers, but it quickly became a paradise for trolls to hurl abuse at them Amber Melville Brown, Global Head of Media and Reputation at Withers, said the case shows that trolls can no longer 'hide behind a Harry Potter magic invisibility cloak, especially where we are publicly commenting on and criticizing others or responsible for it'. She said: 'There are numerous hurdles for claimants in bringing legal actions for defamation or harassment against individual aggressors, let alone the platforms which host offensive material and the owners of those platforms. But unmasking an otherwise anonymous part of the puzzle gets the claimant over one of the necessary hurdles when it comes to identifying, filing against and serving that party'. Gerard Cukier, a partner at Keystone Law, said that it may be trickier to chase down the King of the Trolls due to the way he has set up his businesses around the world. 'Although Bond appears to be UK based, the publishers are two Hong Kong based companies, which adds to the difficulties', he said. 'In Northern Ireland, as in England, there is a one-year time limit to bring proceedings for defamation. That period is unlikely to be extended by the court for the reason that the publisher of the trolling allegations and comments has now been identified. Anyone who has suffered the same treatment within the last year might well now wish to have a go now that he's been identified. 'There is no such time limit for claims in harassment but it would be necessary to show that there is a continuous and continuing pattern of harassment for such a claim to be made'. It came as the couple who unmasked Sebastian Bond as the creator of Tattle Life would 'shake with fear' every time they woke up and checked their phones. Neil and Donna today appeared on Good Morning Britain and told hosts Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley about the 'stalking' and 'horrendous feeling' of the 'daily abuse'. Donna, who runs fashion label Sylkie along with other brands and has a 'modest' 20,000 followers, said: 'It impacted me on so many different levels. 'Every morning I would wake up and I would think "what have they said now in the last 7 hours" when I would turn on my phone. My body would actually just shake.' In an effort to 'overcome' it all, she joined Trinity College to do an MBA but when her fellow professionals in class asked her what her business was called she didn't want to tell them. 'Everyone is normally proud of their business and able to say it and the first thing I thought when I started an MBA was "they're all going to google me and this thread will come up",' she said. Her husband Neil, an AI founder, explained how they found 'defamatory details' of their businesses 'that were completely untrue'. The couple said the defamatory comments about their enterprises 'completely misrepresented' everything they do and accused Donna of selling 'poor quality' clothes and 'over-representing' her prices. Neil said the trolls even went down to the 'molecular level' of finding information about their finances on Companies House and posting them on the site. He said: 'It got more menacing overtime and eventually it got into stalking. There was lots of commentary about where we were, who we were in restaurants with, "we are watching you" stuff like that.' But the online stalkers soon turned to in person harassment with trolls telling the couple 'we we can see you in this restaurant, we are looking at you right now'. Obsessive 'Tattlers' even started driving back and fourth past their home and posted details of their house on Tattle Life threads dedicated to abusing them. Donna, revealed how she went from 'someone who has stood on the shop floor since I was 16 years of age meeting people all the time' to being 'completely withdrawn'. 'It made me doubt what people were thinking of me,' she said, adding that Bond 'needed to be made accountable' for the impact it had on them and others. The pair explained many other people who were victimised by cruel posts and threads have attempted to take legal action in the past but were unsuccessful. Neil said: 'We didn't do it for us , we never wanted to undertake this work. 'I'm a technologist by trade and I think folks did try. This gentleman would open his inbox and see very many solicitors letters, I'm sure, from different entities that were affected by the site. 'But you need both a legal fortitude to pursue something like this and also a technical understanding of how they are built and thankfully some of my friends who worked in Silicon Valley helped with the unpacking of who was behind the site.' Donna added: 'It's quite amazing because so many people have got to a certain stage in the legal battle and when we undertook it we didn't want to do it but we thought if we could do something, we should. 'My mum said, "Donna, why are the police not stepping in at this stage?".' They are 'just delighted that the judge took it so seriously', with Donna adding: 'It's been a really difficult road and there has been so many twists and turns in the case to get where we are today.' She explained how the 45 pages of abuse which were presented to the High Court 'wasn't that much' in the context of the whole site. 'That it actually probably one of the smallest threads on there. Other people have huge amounts, it reaches people all across the world from Australia to America and even closer to home.' Donna revealed how popular British influencer Mrs Hinch reached out to her on the weekend and told the couple how she had been 'actively targeted' on Tattle Life. She added there may be a lot of 'big personalities' who have been abused on the gossip site but highlighted the 'small business owners' and lesser known micro-influencers who have also fallen victim. 'I have a modest following of 20,000 which was a community I curated for years,' she said, 'We all thought we were anonymous and that you could write whatever you want, but maybe now we can move forward positively and know that that's not the case.' For nearly a decade, since the site was set up in 2017, no one knew who ran Tattle Life, with the site's operator going under the fake name Helen McDougal. Many will be now surprised to learn the creator is in fact a man, who is the author and foodie behind plant-based recipe Instagram page Nest and Glow, which boasts 135,000 followers. For the past eight years, the vegan cookbook author he has secretly presided over the site, which makes an estimated £276,770 in Google Ad revenue every six months, according to figures from 2021. Donna and Neil found a 45-page thread about them and reached out to the site operators in 2021 asking them to take down the commentary 'or face legal action'. The Irish couple who unmasked him as Tattle Life, have shared the names of his alises on their social media - stating that he was masking under the false name as a site moderator, Helen McDougal In 2023, they initiated the process. Neil and Donna got £150,000 each in damages, and the Court granted an injunctive relief to prevent Tattle Life from posting about the couple again. It was also ordered that the Sands' legal costs be paid, with 'further costs and third-party compliance expenses' amounting to £1.8 million. The thread about them was removed in May this year, but thousands and thousands of others remain. Awarding damages to the couple in December 2023, Mr Justice McAlinden hit out at Tattle Life, stating there was 'clearly a case of peddling untruths for profit'. 'It is the exercise of extreme cynicism - the calculated exercise of extreme cynicism,' he continued. 'Which in reality constitutes behaviour solely aimed at making profit out of people's misery. People facilitating this are making money out of it… protecting their income streams by protecting the identity of the individual posters.' Bond also had his assets frozen and must pay a cessation figure of £1,077,173 to have this order lifted. It's likely that deeply popular Tattle Life racked up a decent amount of money for Bond. As reported by The Guardian in 2021, the blog had 43.2 million visits in just six months of that year. The figures are still in the millions this year. In May, as per Similarweb, there were 11.5 million visits on the site, mostly from British users. It is also understood that Sebastian uses different names online - one of them being Bastian Durward - and owns a number of businesses across the world. Two of them, Mr Justice Colton confirmed, include UK-registered Yuzu Zest Limited and Hong Kong-registered Kumquat Tree Limited. According to Companies House information, the former is currently in liquidation but alleged to offer 'media representation services'. At a hearing last Thursday, the court saw a letter from Sebastian's legal team, sent to one of the plaintiffs, claiming he was the Tattle Life founder but was 'unaware of any legal proceedings against him'. The Sands legal representatives disputed that he was unaware.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Tattle life troll revealed: The white midwife who created a fake profile on the gossip website to bully a black author in scandal that rocked the world of mummy bloggers
Before its founder was unveiled as a male vegan influencer last week, Tattle Life was a haven for anonymous posters to spew vicious comments - and one of its most 'toxic' fallouts saw a famous white mummy influencer using a secret alias to make venomous remarks about a black social media star. Instagram-famous mother-of-four Clemmie Hooper, who had partnered with the likes of Boden on sponsored posts, was revealed to be using an alias to accuse Candice Brathwaite of social climbing, being 'aggressive' and using her 'race as a weapon'. Just weeks before blasting Candice across message boards, she had invited her onto her podcast to discuss her traumatic birth experience and how she developed life-threatening sepsis following an emergency C-section. Using the pseudonym Alice in Wanderlust, Clemmie - who at the height of her fame was making national television appearances on shows like This Morning - also hit out at other peers, including Anna Whitehouse ('Mother Pukka'), Emily Murray and Bethie Hungerford, dismissing the women for everything from being 'smug as f***', 'bland and incredibly try hard' to 'oversharing a bit whiffy'. Clemmie, who is a midwife, received a one-year caution order following a misconduct hearing because of the controversy, as she admitted to being behind the posts. In 2019, Clemmie - who had racked up some 700,000 followers from influencing - shocked followers after she put a statement on her social media, where she explained that the trolling she had experienced led her to set up the account, initially to defend herself. But in an effort to cover up her identity when other users began suspecting who she really was, she began posting negative comments about others. Writing in the post, she wrote: 'I know there are some rumours circulating and I want to take the opportunity to explain. 'Earlier this year, I became aware of a website that had thousands of comments about my family and I. 'Reading them made me feel extremely paranoid and affected me much more than I knew at the time. 'I decided without telling anyone else that I would make an anonymous account so that this group of people would believe I was one of them, so that I could maybe change their opinions from the inside to defend my family and I.' She continued: 'It became all consuming and it grew bigger than I knew how to handle. 'When the users started to suspect it was me, I made the mistake of commenting about others. I regret it all and am deeply sorry - I know this has caused a lot of pain. 'Undoubtedly I got lost in this online world and the more I became engrossed in the negative commentary, the more situation escalated. 'Engaging in this was a huge mistake,' she added. 'I take full responsibility for what's happened and I am just so sorry for the hurt I have caused to everyone involved including my friends and family.' Though Clemmie had not at that point revealed who the user was, other users on Tattle became suspicious when the user Alice in Wanderlust began posting from the same location as Clemmie, including Mauritius, and defending Clemmie. Speaking to Grazia in 2021, Candice admitted her mental health 'went a bit woo woo' after the reveal. 'This was always a bubbling conversation, trolling, online bulling, this was very at the forefront of 2019, so for this to be done by someone who has suffered it herself, not only is that sad and chilling, it's also like, okay....' she explained. 'I've had to really recalibrate my team and who I trust and those closest to me, because now I'm faced with the realisation that not everyone who is brought before me is an ally. And that is a fact.' She added the revelations were particularly 'painful' because of the comments made about her race. 'I step into this arena as a minority, you know. I wasn't called chubby, I wasn't called ugly, I was spoken about based on something I cannot change,' she continued. 'That was a bitter pill to swallow. But, you know, all things said and done, I can't meditate on her, man, I can't. She's made her bed, she's done what she's done and I'm always gonna be.' Speaking to the Guardian in 2020, the influencer also explained that the news 'really came at her from behind. 'I had to tell myself: "Wow girl, get it together, not everyone is your friend",' she added. 'But what she decided to do has actually been helpful to me showing people the many things black women are dealing with, not just online but in the office and on the street.' Candice has been open about her experiences with racism and has also bravely spoken about the trauma she experienced following C-section complications after she gave birth. 'Three days after the emergency C-section, I fell gravely ill. I tried my best to tell healthcare professionals that I wasn't feeling well but most agreed it was all in my head,' she wrote for period care brand Bodyform. 'One night I fell asleep with my new-born daughter, Esme, on my chest. It was the weight of her body on mine that was able to force a sack of infected fluid, to release itself through one of my healing wounds. 'As a result, I was rushed back to hospital and kept in intensive care for a long time. During this time, I wasn't able to bond with my new born. I think I'm only just beginning to work through the stress and trauma of that moment.' Candice has since also received apologies from hospital staff about 'inconsistencies' and dismissive behaviour that 'fell far below the NHS standard' - after in 2018 learning that in the UK, black British mothers are five times more likely to die in childbirth than white women following a report. 'My therapist says that when babies are born, they have these tiny synapses where they're looking for their mum and if they can't smell you, they break apart and never go back together, so Esmé's always going to pine for me,' she told the Guardian. 'That makes me so furious, because that separation could have been avoided.' 'I'm at the forefront of a discussion that will hopefully save women's lives.' FEMAIL has reached out to Candice's representatives for comment. In 2023, four years after Clemmie admitted to using Tattle Life, the Following the Fitness To Practise Committee Substantive Hearing with the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard her admit to three of the charges facing her - that she made the comments in question, and that they had been intended to 'undermine or humiliate' their target. She also accepted that elements of the posts were 'racially offensive and/or discriminatory', but maintains that she was unaware of this offence at the time. The panel took into account some mitigating factors, including Clemmie's health at the time of making the posts, which was said to have clouded her objectivity. It also considered positive testimonials with regards to her midwifery practice, her public apology, her reflection and insight into her conduct, and her 'evident remorse', as well as how she had been affected by reading a very large volume of negative comments about herself online. Her self-removal from social media, and what the panel considered to be her negligible risk of repetition, were also considered mitigating factors. In addition, the panel said it accepted that Clemmie was unaware that describing a black woman as aggressive was a racial trope when writing the posts, and that she has since engaged in self-directed training and reading around equality and diversity. Following Clemmie's confession in 2019, her husband - also a parenting influencer - said he was 'angry and sad' to learn about his wife's anonymous profile and claimed he had 'no idea' that she had secretly been writing about her peers online. Describing himself as in a 'cr** position', Simon said he wished she had spoken to him first, and while he made it clear that he was not defending her, but that he has 'seen what three years of being attacked online can do to someone'. Simon is still an influencer, and has 866,000 followers on Instagram. It comes as last week, the anonymous blogger who made money running a trolls' paradise gossip site can be revealed for the first time as a male vegan food influencer - after losing a £300,000 defamation case. British 'business owner' Sebastian Bond, 41, who goes by the alias Bastian Durward, has been confirmed as the secret mastermind behind Tattle Life an online forum with thousands of threads where people comment on influencers, celebrities and anyone with even the smallest public profile. The site attracts 12 million visitors a month, and is supposedly aimed at exposing disingenuous influencers who make money from social media, but it rapidly descended into a paradise for trolls to aim abuse at everyone from Mrs Hinch and Stacey Solomon to mummy bloggers with small followings. Now, Neil and Donna Sands from Northern Ireland have fought back and were awarded £300,000 at the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland in 2023 after successfully suing Bond for 'defamation and harassment' in posts aimed at them on the site. Last week, restrictions on identifying Bond were lifted. For nearly a decade, since the site was set up in 2017, no one knew who ran Tattle Life, with the site's operator going under the fake name Helen McDougal. Many will be now surprised to learn the creator is in fact a man, who is the author and foodie behind plant-based recipe Instagram page Nest and Glow, which boasts 135,000 followers. For the past eight years, the vegan cookbook author has secretly presided over the site, which makes an estimated £276,770 in Google Ad revenue every six months, according to figures from 2021. Meanwhile, influencers, their partners and even their children, have been on the receiving end of abuse and mockery over their weight and disabilities - while private details such as their home addresses have been shared on the forum. One content creator, who had made a modest £500 from her social media account. told Cosmopolitan how her home address was shared on the site while she was pregnant. 'I had such paranoia that someone was going to break in and kill me, and my unborn baby, that I was signed off work for a week,' she said. Neil and Donna Sands, however, are the first to fight back against the site and win. Donna, who runs fashion label Sylkie along with other brands, and Neil, an AI founder, said they found a 45-page thread about them and reached out to the site operators in 2021 asking them to take down the commentary 'or face legal action'. In 2023, they initiated the process. Neil and Donna were awarded £150,000 each in damages, and the Court granted a injunctive relief to prevent Tattle Life from posting about the couple again. It was also ordered that the Sands' legal costs be paid, with 'further costs and third-party compliance expenses' amounting to £1.8 million. The thread about them was removed in May this year, but thousands and thousands of others remain. Awarding damages to the couple in December 2023, Mr Justice McAlinden hit out at Tattle Life, stating there was 'clearly a case of peddling untruths for profit'. 'It is the exercise of extreme cynicism - the calculated exercise of extreme cynicism,' he continued. 'Which in reality constitutes behaviour solely aimed at making profit out of people's misery. People facilitating this are making money out of it… protecting their income streams by protecting the identity of the individual posters.' At the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland last week, reporting restrictions which prevented Bond being named were lifted. He's also had his assets frozen and must pay a cessation figure of £1,077,173 to have this order lifted. It's likely that deeply popular Tattle Life racked up a decent amount of money for Bond. As reported by The Guardian in 2021, the blog had 43.2 million visits in just six months of that year. The figures are still in the millions this year. In May, as per Similarweb, there were 11.5 million visits on the site, mostly from British users. It is also understood that Sebastian uses different names online - one of them being Bastian Durward - and owns a number of businesses across the world. Two of them, Mr Justice Colton confirmed, include UK-registered Yuzu Zest Limited and Hong Kong-registered Kumquat Tree Limited. According to Companies House information, the former is currently in liquidation but alleged to offer 'media representation services'. At a hearing last Thursday, the court saw a letter from Sebastian's legal team, sent to one of the plaintiffs, claiming he was the Tattle Life founder but was 'unaware of any legal proceedings against him'. The Sands legal representatives disputed that he was unaware. An initial glimpse at Nest and Glow won't rouse suspicions that its founder is running a social media platform that has become known for its 'cruel' remarks. Aesthetic photos of mango chia seed pots and sweet potato snacks dominate the feed, along with instructions for recipes. An Amazon author page for his cookbook - being flogged for £20 online - claims that 'Bastian' has a 'passion for sharing healthy recipes to inspire everyone to eat natural food full of nutrients and vitamins' 'I've been vegan for over 30 years and on a nutrient-dense plant-based healthy diet for 15 of those,' he added. 'In 2015 I decided to leave my office job in order to follow my passions. This resulted in setting up the site Nest and Glow where I share healthy recipes and other natural lifestyle content.' However, the Irish couple who unmasked him as Tattle Life, have shared the names of his aliases on their social media - stating that he was masking under the false name as a site moderator, Helen McDougal. 'Dear Friends,' Neil and Donna shared in an Instagram statement this weekend. 'As a couple we never wanted or expected to undertake this work, however when we discovered the hate site we were forced to take action. 'We are very grateful for your support, and hope that this serves as a reminder to those who want to attack others from behind a screen - that the internet is not an anonymous place. 'We will share more soon, but for today, we hope that this news will provide some peace to those affected by online hate and harassment, and that the internet can be a safer space for us all. Onward.' Tattle Life states on its site that it has a 'zero-tolerance policy to any content that is abusive, hateful, harmful and a team of moderators online 24/7 to remove any content that breaks our strict rules - often in minutes'. However, it adds that 'influencer marketing is insidious' and 'revolves around people that occupy the space between celebrity and friend to stealthy sell when in reality it's a parasocial relationship. 'It's an important part of a healthy, free and fair society for members of the public to have an opinion on those in a position of power and influence; that is why tattle exists. 'We allow people to express their views on businesses away from an influencers feed on a site where they would have to go out of their way to read, this is not trolling.' As reported per The Journal, Neil Sands also said: 'We undertook this case not just for ourselves but for the many people who have suffered serious personal and professional harm through anonymous online attacks on this and other websites. 'We believe in free speech, but not consequence-free speech – particularly where it is intended to, and succeeds in, causing real-world damage to people's lives, livelihoods and mental health. We were in the fortunate position to be able to take the fight to these faceless operators, and it took a lot of time, effort and expense.' A surprising amount of charged criticism has circulated on message boards, hitting out at various famous people. In one instance, Alice Evans - a Hollywood actress who split from husband Ioan Gruffudd - took to social media in the initial aftermath of their separation, during which time she discovered he was having an affair and documented her anguish. 'She is full of s***. It's kinda sad she felt she has to make this stuff up for attention and likes,' one tattler slammed. Another stated: 'She was controlling him. A good mother would simply not be using her children to get back at her ex whether he cheated on her or not.' Elsewhere, Katie Price was labelled a 'drugged up p*** artist'. Countless celebrities have been subject to vitriol at the hands of vicious comment threads - but those with smaller online presences are also at risk.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Gossip website founder facing £2m defamation bill is vegan influencer
A gossip website founder has been unmasked as a male vegan influencer after nearly a decade of anonymity. Sebastian Bond, 41, was revealed as the architect of the popular online forum Tattle Life after losing a £300,000 defamation case, in which he was also ordered to pay costs of £1.8 million. The British businessman has run the website since 2017 under the pseudonym Helen McDougal. The site encourages its 12 million monthly visitors to share their opinions of those in the public eye, which critics say has allowed for vicious 'trolling'. Mr Bond, who runs plant-based recipe Instagram page Nest and Glow, was sued by Neil and Donna Sands for defamation and harassment at the High Court in Northern Ireland in 2023. The pair were awarded £300,000. Mr Bond has now had his anonymity waived after reporting restrictions were lifted last week. He was also ordered to cover the Sands's legal costs and third-party compliance expenses, which came to £1.8 million. The pair were also granted injunctive relief to prevent the site from posting about them in the future. Mr and Mrs Sands, who work in fashion and AI respectively, said they had contacted the site in 2021 to request the comments be taken down and threatened legal action. Mr Justice McAlinden said in December 2023 that Mr Bond's running of the site 'constitutes behaviour solely aimed at making profit out of people's misery'. 'Zero-tolerance policy' He added: 'People facilitating this are making money out of it… protecting their income streams by protecting the identity of the individual posters.' Tattle Life informs users that it has a 'zero-tolerance policy to any content that is abusive, hateful, harmful and a team of moderators online 24/7 to remove any content that breaks our strict rules - often in minutes'. It adds: 'We allow people to express their views on businesses away from an influencer's feed on a site where they would have to go out of their way to read, this is not trolling.' 'Forced to take action' Reporting restrictions preventing Mr Bond from being named were lifted at the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland last week, while his assets were also frozen. The court was shown a letter from Mr Bond's legal team, sent to one of the plaintiffs, claiming he was the Tattle Life founder but was 'unaware of any legal proceedings against him'. In an Instagram post over the weekend, Donna and Neil said: 'As a couple we never wanted or expected to undertake this work, however when we discovered the hate site Tattle Life we were forced to take action. 'We are very grateful for your support and hope that this serves as a reminder to those who want to attack others from behind a screen - that the internet is not an anonymous place. 'We will share more soon, but for today, we hope that this news will provide some peace to those affected by online hate and harassment and that the internet can be a safer space for us all. Onward.' 'Anonymous online attacks' Neil Sands later told The Journal: 'We undertook this case not just for ourselves but for the many people who have suffered serious personal and professional harm through anonymous online attacks on this and other websites. 'We believe in free speech, but not consequence-free speech – particularly where it is intended to, and succeeds in, causing real-world damage to people's lives, livelihoods and mental health. We were in the fortunate position to be able to take the fight to these faceless operators, and it took a lot of time, effort and expense.'
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Alex Belfield's release from prison forces stalking victims to relive their fears
Alex Belfield was condemned as 'the Jimmy Savile of trolling' when he was jailed for a stalking campaign against broadcasters including Jeremy Vine. His victims have now spoken of their fears as the 45-year-old is released from prison, from where he has been plotting a comeback and a summer tour of self-promotion. The former BBC Radio Leeds host turned YouTuber appeared to make light of his crimes while at HMP Fosse Way in Leicestershire, describing himself on his website as a 'convicted talker' and 'political prisoner'. In fact, he was jailed for five and a half years in September 2022 for stalking four men, including Vine, who told the trial that watching Belfield's hateful output was 'like swimming in sewage'. For the former BBC Radio Leeds presenter Liz Green, one of four women subjected to a campaign of abuse by Belfield, his release on licence at the halfway point of his sentence comes just as she was beginning to move on from her decade-long ordeal. 'I wish he had stayed in for five and a half years,' the 61-year-old said as she recalled the harassment campaign that took a toll on her physical and mental health. 'I was suicidal. It made me very ill. My hair fell out. I withdrew from the world for a while. I had therapy, and I'm just about now coming out of the other end. I'm quite heavily medicated – I don't mind saying that because I think people should be open about their mental health and why it happens. It really did affect me.' In 2011, Belfield had suggested in veiled terms that Green should be sent to Auschwitz after she presented a documentary about the concentration camp. It was the start of a 10-year campaign of harassment against her, which included emails, YouTube videos and tweets. While Belfield was cleared of stalking Green, and also Helen Thomas, Rozina Breen and Stephanie Hirst, all former BBC employees, the trial judge ruled he had targeted them in 'a personal campaign of revenge', leaving them in need of psychological support. Belfield was handed an indefinite restraining order preventing him from contacting the women. Green, who lives in West Yorkshire, became frightened when, before his release, Belfield began promoting six books he had written in prison, his Voice of Reason YouTube channel, and a summer speaking tour to 'tell all and expose his side of the story'. He appeared to make light of his crimes on his website, claiming he would be performing in a pantomime jokingly dubbed Jack and the Bean Stalker in 2026. His website also featured the banner: 'Thank you for stalking – Officially a political prisoner since 2023.' The jokes which were first reported by Nottinghamshire Live have since been taken down. Green said it was ludicrous that Belfield was 'grifting' after causing so much suffering. 'I live my life because of him in a very rigid, protected way,' she said. 'It's been a good 15 years of my life. And when I say I'm coming out of it, I don't wake up depressed, I don't wake up anxious. Anxiety is the worst thing I think anybody can have. Some days I actually feel happy.' For the theatre blogger Philip Dehany, who was stalked by Belfield, the YouTuber's 'horrendous' conduct proves he is not remorseful. Dehany, 43, who is pursuing a civil claim for harassment against Belfield, said: 'I can't imagine how difficult prison would have been, but I had hoped he would want to put it all behind him. All I want to do is be able to move on. But because he's locked me into this civil case and because he's writing these books, he appears to be reluctant to move on.' Green now hopes Belfield will go on to 'live a decent, honest, quiet life' by adhering to his licence conditions, which every offender is subject to so they do not seek to gain income from their crime. 'What I am concerned about when he comes out is that it's free publicity for him to spout his shite about being an oppressed political prisoner,' she said. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Belfield's website has featured a 2,300-word statement denouncing his 'bespoke and unprecedented' licence conditions, saying he would be 'kidnapped' back to prison should he 'offend any of his captors' with his upcoming projects. 'Alex's only option is to appear in silence and release 6x 500 pages completely blank to remain within the intentionally ambiguous licence conditions. I think we can all agree even Hitler would argue this is a step too far for a man who has served his sentence, who is 100% rehabilitated, signed off by psychology without a single concern, and supposedly back in society protected by human rights laws,' the homepage said before it was taken down on Wednesday. The website added that Belfield had 'endured the biggest witch-hunt in media history' and that he 'can't wait TO MAKE GREAT BRITAIN LAUGH AGAIN and return to mocking the afflicted'. Belfield emailed his supporters on 6 June saying his 'long-awaited comeback' had been postponed and that he would be refunding tickets to his tour. But it claimed copies of his autobiography, His Own Worst Enema, had already shipped. While the email did not mention his licence conditions, it said: 'There are dark forces at work behind the scenes, making it impossible for Alex to move forward as planned.' The Ministry of Justice would not comment on Belfield's licence conditions but said: 'Offenders released on licence are subject to strict conditions and can be recalled to prison immediately if they break the rules.'
