Social media is “destructive” and will “transform politics for a generation”, Scotland’s deputy First Minister has said.
Kate Forbes said social media abuse and discourse has a detrimental impact on young women seeking to get into politics and could limit the number who eventually run for office.
Speaking at a conference on Scotland in 2050 – where Ms Forbes appeared alongside Cherie Blair KC – the deputy First Minister was asked about comments made by actor Rupert Everett about former first minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Mr Everett described Ms Sturgeon as a “witch”, claiming that when she took over as leader “everything changed in Scottish arts and everything had to be about being Scottish”.
The former first minister described the comments as “deeply misogynistic” and “rubbish”.
Ms Forbes said such criticisms of women – either by men or other women – are “so often tinged with misogynistic language”.
Commenting on social media more widely, she said: “The fact that politics has gone from an exchange of views to these personal attacks devoid of policy scrutiny and it is abhorrent, it is despicable.
“What’s remarkable is we’ve been talking about it for at least six or seven years and it’s only got worse in that time.”
She added: “The destructive nature of social media cannot be overstated.
“I think it is going to transform politics for a generation.
“It’s going to transform – completely change – the type of people that are in politics for a generation.”
Online abuse, the deputy First Minister said, rarely stays online, pointing to personal experiences she has had.
“I have people that were once accusing me of all sorts of things on social media, then turning up at my surgeries,” she said.
She added: “It’s just going to be a cycle until there is an intervention, something disrupts the cycle and we as a country, and those of us in the public square decide to take a different approach.”
Ms Forbes added that it is only when “someone who should know better makes comments like that, that suddenly we all say ‘that’s not acceptable’”, referencing Mr Everett.
