Earlier this year, 23-year-old Sydney woman Olivia Melville found herself at the centre of a category-five shitstorm, when screenshots of her Tinder profile were widely shared on social media.
The screenshots attracted many comments, some just gross, some more violent in nature, and in the ensuing backlash, there was a push for police to come own harder on people making threatening comments on social media.
Today, after a long campaign by the group Sexual Violence Won’t Be Silenced, a 25-year-old Sydney man has been charged with “using a carrier service to menace, harm of cause offense.”
Zane Alchin made a number of comments on a Facebook thread about Melville, ranging from remarks about how women should not have rights to more disturbing threats involving sexual assault.
In a statement to Facebook, Sexual Violence Won’t Be Silenced thanked their supporters for spreading the word, and Newtown Local Police for their investigation.
We would like to announce the person who allegedly made explicit rape threats to the core members of Sexual Violence Won…
Posted by Sexual Violence Won’t Be Silenced on Sunday, October 25, 2015
Alchin is due to appear in Newtown Local Court on Thursday. Chris Hall, the man who originally shared screenshots of Melville’s Tinder profile, was let go from his job for violating his employer’s social media policy.
via News Corp
