Reporter with epilepsy suffers seizure after Twitter user sends spiteful pic

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Nakamova: I am very familiar with Kurt Eichenwald's excellent reporting and this situation. I am a bit of a political junkie and have followed him on Twitter. for a very long time. I have read the comments sent to him by trolls. They are cruel and inhumane. They write in droves that he deserves a seizure- and worse. They laugh at him and attach unthinkable images. I know how strobes, traffic lights, etc. affect my epilepsy. We all have differences in opinions about our country. Mr. Eichenwald has been attacked by GIF's because he is a compelling journalist and is seeking the truth. My heart goes out to him and his family.
 
In the distant past, CWE was the target of similar attacks with strobe images (which is why new members can't post links right away). It's very hard for me to understand the mind-set behind this kind of cruelty. The internet can bring out the best in people and it can bring out the very worst. :(
 
I am dismayed to hear that people intentionally posted epileptogenic gifs here. I saw the strobe image on Twitter that caused Eichenwald's seizure. Someone reposted it again on his thread for spite. It was truly awful.

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.
- The Dalai Lama
 
Even more dismaying are the comments that have been slipped in through the comments section. So many understanding people comment, but then you get ones that say "but I am calling BS on this person having actually suffered a seizure caused by an image over twitter." Really???? Yes, their knowledge of the condition is evident, naturally. *sigh* Same as the one where they say "he got what he deserved" "karma". It makes me despair over these people. Ah, the world needs much more education on epilepsy and what it means/does to those that have it.
 
Great. Now all the /b/tards are going to have the great idea to copycat that stunt on epilepsy forums again. It seems like this idea is kinda like the flu. It breaks out every once in a while until it runs it course and then dies away for a while.

For those who haven't seen it, our experience with folks of this sociopathological bent:

http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com...ere-restriction-signatures-images-links-1759/
 
I saw it on my local news last night. Fortunately, the broadcaster on the channel I watch did side with Eichenwald, noting the cruelty of some folks out there.

Unfortunately tho, like Bernard says, it runs it's course for a while and will come back like the wicked flu. So our job is to keep educating those fools!! IMO, if E happened to me, it can happen to anyone!
 
I not heard of this guy and don't understand twitter for which I thank god and I had no idea people can do this.is there no way this gent not have his twitter account policed also this site is there soft or hardware that screen This and somehow find these trolls.They are committing Gbh which is prison sentence
 
I have seen a rising volume of hatred in the past 18 months reflected on the Twitter platform. People have become emboldened to lash out. It scares me.

Eichenwald has always been very open about his condition which is very courageous considering the tone there. One person questioned if he will be able to drive after his seizure. He confirmed that he will not be able to- only to be taunted with " he should drive off a cliff". Several accused him of looking for pity; the parade of sociopathic posting continued all day.

On a personal note: I was very upset by what I read and had a small seizure "event" yesterday. Perhaps from too much online scrolling or the symbiotic stress of seeing someone I respected attacked. Being vulnerable and compassionate has its risks but I refuse to hate.
 
I believe the reporter did report the toxic tweet to Twitter, and I assume the troll's twitter account has been closed. But that doesn't stop others on Twitter from copycatting and doing the same thing, and in each case the offending tweet has to be flagged and the offending account has to be banned. Unfortunately the damage is often done before the jerk gets thrown off Twitter. :(
 
On a personal note: I was very upset by what I read and had a small seizure "event" yesterday.
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Sorry to hear this. Another downstream consequence of thoughtless, malicious behavior.
 
gbh? Please explain, seagull.

Twitter: I began to use it a few years ago for local and world news. It was a great resource. I never interacted with posters until the US primaries/election.
 
Nakamova: Thank you for your caring. I have been overly sensitive lately. Still struggling to get my Trileptal at a reasonable price. I have discovered a great deal on that front but that is another story. Meditation helps but seizures still have their way with me when I am stressed.. I took a Clonazepam troche when I felt sensations coming in my legs. One of my rescue cats has a gift for picking up my vibe. He came and put his body across my legs, something he does only before seizures.
 
I would assume these trolls use proxy servers i total twit on computer but I able get proxy servers I don't because cock compute up.I thank god even more I don't understand twitter or read them.Enough twats on fb of which I hardly use
 
Trolls are usually recidivists. Easy to open another under account under a different name unless their IP is banned. Many are paid to do their dirty work and some just enjoy being anonymous haters.
-------
Hey you, don't tell me there's no hope at all. Together we stand, divided we fall.”
― Pink Floyd
 
Paid to troll I never heard of that.Why would pay people to be horrible on your behalf they should at least front up say who they are and why they dislike certain tweets.Yes put argument up as to why dislike disagree but be spiteful harmful just plain wrong.

For what sort of reason would you pay someone to troll
 
seagull, This happens often during political campaigns. Many years ago I use to help moderate a well known website. Parties who play dirty hire people or create "Bots" to tear down the opposition. During a particularly tense race, thousands of trolls were paid to infiltrate the site. We could not pull them out fast enough- and them they came back under other guises using proxies. I finally gave up because the nastiness was over the top- and my efforts were fruitless.

I have noticed on Twitter that the candidate who won this year always had thousands of people thumbing up his tweets within seconds of posting. Paid trolls or robots with the same message in response each time!
 
I forgot your elections yes I remember as do rest of world it based on tweets and leaks.methinks the White House going be twitter central.Your president to be certainly knows how to tweet another good reason not use twitter tweets.
What happened to the good old newspaper or face to face interview.Afraid computer with things like trip adviser fb etc is ruin of many good people.
 
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