Man Faces Up to 6 Months in Prison for Disagreeing with Feminists on Twitter

Greg Elliott faces up to six months in prison. His crime? Disagreeing with “two Toronto female political activists, Steph Guthrie and Heather Reilly,” three years ago.

Elliott has already lost his job since his arrest.

It is not alleged that Elliott threatened Ms. Guthrie or Ms. Reilly in any way, nor is it alleged that he sexually harassed them.

The original source of the arrest came when Ms. Guthrie tweeted that she wanted to “sic the Internet” on a video game programmer who created a game in which virtual people punched a feminist. Guthrie contacted employers to tell them not to hire the programmer and said she wanted “hatred on the Internet to impact his real-life experience.”

Mr. Elliott, disagreeing with this tactic, said the actions that Ms. Guthrie was taking “was every bit as vicious as the face-punch game.” They then responded to each other on Twitter several times.

Mr. Elliott

Ms. Guthrie has since pressed charges against Elliot, claiming that she was in fear for her safety. Mr. Elliott’s lawyer says this is not the case, however, as Ms. Guthrie and Ms. Reilly “convened a meeting of friends to discuss how Elliott should be publicly shamed,” “bombarded their followers with furious tweets and retweets about him,” and accused him of being a pedophile.

To allegations that she is trying to silence Mr. Elliot over a disagreement, Ms. Guthrie sarcastically apologized that “she wasn’t “a perfect victim” who behaved like a conventional victim.”

“They were not vulnerable,” Mr. Elliott’s lawyer said. “They are very accomplished, politically savvy women. If they can’t handle being mentioned in the tail end of a political discussion (on Twitter), then they’re in the wrong business.”

Feminist website Jezebel has a different perspective, saying Elliott’s arrest is “a heartening development for women whose professional and personal lives are heavily taxed by the specter of online abuse.”