#MeToo has changed the media landscape, but in Australia there is still much to be done
Australia’s notoriously strict defamation laws have also limited how survivors can talk about their experiences, threatening to weaken #MeToo’s clout, write Bianca Fileborn, Rachel Loney-Howes, and Sophie Hindes in this crossposting from The Conversation.
Emerging in October 2017 in response to allegations of sexual assault perpetrated by Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, #MeToo highlighted the potential for traditional and social media to work together to generate global interest in gender-based violence. Within 24 hours, survivors around the world had used the hashtag 12 million times.
Eighteen months later, #MeToo is showing few signs of slowing down. Stories continue to appear in world media about sexual harassment and assault. The accused are predominantly powerful men in the entertainment industry, with musician Ryan Adams providing a recent example.
More recently, we have seen the corporate world tapping into the potential of #MeToo to ask how men can do better to call out sexist attitudes and behaviours that condone violence against women. The one that caused the most debate was Gillette’s advertisement questioning whether this is the “best a man can be?”
