Its shocking the level of toxicity and sexist abuse that persists for women in public life in 21st-century Scotland.
For many, with the advent of social media, it is only getting worse.
Outgoing First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is right to namecheck the online space as a place where virulent misogyny, abuse and violent – even sexual – threats are allowed to fester and spread.
And it’s heartbreaking – even if it’s not a surprise – to hear a high-profile MSP such as Labour’s Monica Lennon say she couldn’t honestly recommend a career in politics to her own daughter given the nastiness women have to endure.
Just as bad are the stories, from SNP MP Hannah Bardell and Tory MSP Annie Wells, about having to – not once or twice but on several occasions – report online abusers and harassers to police because of safety fears.
It’s not good enough that we live in a world where female politicians must have panic buttons in their homes because the threats they’ve received on social media have left them fearing for their safety.
And these fears are all too justified, as we saw with the senseless murder of Labour MP Jo Cox who was brutally killed just for doing her job.
It’s not good enough, in what is supposedly an era of inclusion and of diversity, that women with real-life experience – the kind our political sphere desperately needs – should be put off entering the political fray.
It’s not even close to good enough.
Make no mistake, our political culture, and society more widely, still has a long way to go in the push for equality.
So it is time to get serious about challenging social media giants on their lack of action on tackling this issue. It’s time to demand they stop allowing trolls, bigots and sexists what almost seems like free rein to spread their hateful bile.
As we reveal today, the vitriol against females online has become so bad that one mother told how it almost forced her young daughter to take her own life.
The 13-year-old girl, from Glasgow, was driven to despair last year after social media firms failed to address rape threats and horrific abuse she suffered on their platforms.
Her mother called on online regulators to clamp down on abusive content before it circulates.
That’s why the Daily Record launched the Our Kids, Our Future campaign, to demand social media platforms stamp out harmful posts and protect users.
Charities and crime experts are backing our calls for platforms like Snapchat, TikTok and WhatsApp to do much more to crack down on the worrying spread of violent video content, linked to rising levels of youth attacks in Scotland.
These platforms must act because these abusers are threatening the safety of the very people we need to be shaping our future.
And it simply has to stop.
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