‘Government Narratives About ‘Disabled Scroungers’ Give Trolls Permission to Viciously Attack Us Online’

Amid the doom heavy, stranger-than-fiction, world we find ourselves in, I recently experienced a bizarre type of trolling. A short, and rather inexplicable, diatribe was sent to me in the hopes of causing upset through its attacks.

In a comment left on a small Substack post, an individual – who invented the unimaginative name of  ‘FuckOffK**andPen’ – accused me and my partner of being blocking back-stabbers to disabled people. My partner responded, sarcastically noting how cowardly it was to hide behind such a name.

I reported the comment to Substack, pointing out that surely the name alone could not be acceptable, although I’ll admit I’ll be the first to resist censorship if anyone’s prevented from naming themselves ‘f**k off so-and-so politician’. Thus is the way of free speech, which, as a writer and activist, is very close to my heart.

It was interesting to see how friends reacted – they were more shocked than we were. It’s the kind of comment to which I’m likely to respond with an eye-roll emoji, and yet even, if we cannot claim this as an incident which would be defined by authorities as online disability hate, I have been victim to that regularly, as have many in the disabled community.

Back in the earliest days of the internet – when there wasn’t such a huge, pulsing cloud of online activity – hate still showed itself in mail groups and clumsy early chat-rooms. Name-calling was usual, particularly when the perpetrator realised you were disabled.

In those days, the term ‘spastic’ was the go-to insult, and I was not as tough as I am now. Others would protect me and there would be a telling off, and the banning of the perpetrator. However, there would also be a gentle patronising from some. Was I  overreacting, just a teeny bit? It was only a word, a joke, they didn’t mean it that way.

Online hate comes in many guises and from unexpected sources.

I am always shocked when it emanates from those who claim to be ‘carers’ looking for work, when in fact they are little more than bullies preying on those they push into vulnerable situations.

This is akin to the phenomenon of ‘mate hate’ – something I’ve helped others to be aware of whenever I see the signs. A so-called carer, who initially offers you the best support ever but then threatens you, is nothing more than an abuser. This abuse can appear as demands via messaging apps: challenging initial work conditions, demanding more free time, free food, and bizarre requests, and is often pushed through online platforms where conversations can be set to not save.

One in my community shared how they were sent endless emails bemoaning a service user’s faults and making demands that their cat should be locked in the bathroom, that they should be allowed to smoke when they felt like it, and that they should have the freedom to leave the home (and therefore the service user), at random.

Another worker threatened a friend – a male wheelchair user with multiple impairments – with the wrath of the ‘foreign mafia’ if he didn’t meet her demands to be paid at will, and through unofficial channels.

These are the bad apples that trigger a sense of self-doubt that you are actually the bad person. It is a difficult feeling to shrug off, when all around you there are indicators that society feels this way too.

Then there’s the online stalker, who I’ve experienced personally. Individuals who, ultimately, I pity – their loneliness and alienation pushing them to somewhere dark. Their abuse comes in the form of angry statements: you’re a c*** for not replying, you’re not what you seem, you’re a f****** liar and a fraud, you’re not really disabled at all.

And so it goes.

One example that has been shared with me is of a newly-disabled person, not one to shy away from challenging abuse, who has nonetheless been astounded at the casual insults she receives on Facebook. Debates around the Blue Badge (which gives disabled people limited parking concessions), often demonstrate the belief held by many that we should be ‘grateful and stop moaning’, with our cars ‘paid for by the taxpayer!’

Another statement aimed at this individual was that the disabled are ‘extremely entitled’ with all these ‘wonderful freebies’. This chills me to the bone, and highlights again how the media – with its narratives of ‘disabled benefits scroungers’ – distorts our reality. Must we keep pointing out that these so-called ‘freebies’ are but minor efforts to establish equity and equality?

A visually impaired friend often encounters abuse when individuals demand unnecessary layers of personal information, which thereby forces her to declare her impairment. Recently, while trying to do no more than to sell a microwave, people demanded she follow their method of doing this, to the point where she asked them not to assume her circumstances. Why should she reveal that she is visually impaired when selling an item, simply because someone on Facebook demands to know why she can’t do it the ‘conventional’ way?

A further example comes from an avid user of online dating apps (which should provide increased access to romance for disabled people), who faces episodes of unremitting abuse on a variety of platforms that claim to be safe – plainly they are not safe for everyone. The friend switches between immediately ‘revealing’ that he is a disabled man and not.

Sometimes, when a friendship develops, it is easier to move on to discussing your disabled identity. Other times, it feels less tiring to be upfront. Either way, he faces the hate – that he’s a liar, a fraud, and snide attacks that he’s merely looking for a ‘free carer’. At its worst, some simply say ‘all disabled people are ugly and shouldn’t be allowed to live’.

Over the years, I’ve toughened up to such statements by realising that it says more about the author than the recipient – but such abuse always takes its toll. Especially since such vile online hate seems to have become increasingly normalised.

Meanwhile, the Government continues to push the narrative of disabled people as ‘fraudsters’ who ‘should get back to work’. This, too, fills many with fear, and galvanises online abusers, who feel justified.

How easy, and cowardly it is to be anonymous in these actions. It is no wonder that hate digs its fingers in when even political leaders feel it’s okay to mock – and blame – disabled people. Another prominent recent example of this was across the Atlantic, when Donald Trump decried the Federal Aviation Administration’s diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) programme, outcomes of which he suggested caused the recent Washington air crash, due to the hiring of those with “severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities”

Along with other activists, I have contributed statements to the parliamentary committee examining online disability hate. What remains most powerful, if disturbing, for me, is that, in online terms, the abuse is as prevalent as ever. I stand by my statement: at present, the zeitgeist of disabled people as scroungers and benefit cheats is almost permission to further this abuse.

If nothing else, the recent ‘FuckOffK**andPen’ incident has made me more watchful. Now, with years of online life behind me, I have a tougher skin, many battles fought, bullies challenged and exposed. I will not tolerate it, and ask you all to join me in calling out such shameful actions.

Penny Pepper is an award-winning author, poet and disabled activist