I will not be silenced: Australian Muslim fights Twitter ‘troll army’

And they have been. “Leave now before we behead your mother and bury you all with pigs…” said one tweet from an account, which has since been suspended. Many of the messages include extremely offensive hashtags.

Veiszadeh, an Australian lawyer and founder of the Islamophobia Register, which tracks instances of abuse against Muslims, knows exactly why she’s being targeted.

“The reality is people don’t abuse me just because I’m a woman or because my name is Mariam or because I’m Middle-Eastern. They abuse me because I have a scarf on my head and because I’m a Muslim,” Veiszadeh told CNN.

It started with a tweet over a T-shirt

Last October, Veiszadeh posted an image of a T-shirt for sale in Woolworths, one of Australia’s biggest retailers, which showed the Australian flag with the words “If you don’t love it, leave.”

But even a change in Australian law wouldn’t solve the issue of attacks emanating from outside the country by trolls who create multiple fake accounts to attack then vanish. The Daily Stormer has issued instructions to its followers on exactly how to do it, reminding them not to threaten violence (though some have), presumably in an attempt to avoid legal action.

Right now, Veiszadeh is concentrating on naming the trolls and urging her 15,000 followers to block their accounts.

“I’m still getting horrifying images and abusive tweets but, as bad as that sounds, I’ve become accustomed to it. I’ve developed a thick skin and for me it’s about exposing bigotry and raising awareness and Islamophobia.”

Thank you to all those who have sent me lovely messages of support. You've helped drown out the bigots & empowered me to keep fighting.

CNN