Labour has an issue with trolling – I should know, I’ve been at the receiving end of it

“@benjaminbutter Saw you sounding off on Sky. Weak, effeminate little traitor undermining Jeremy.” That was just one of the messages I got for questioning Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership after the EU referendum. The abuse poured in. It wasn’t just one or two blue eggs trolling off, but a shower of abuse that continued for the whole week. No response or fact or stat seems to moderate these people. Eventually I got back to this guy and explained I’m straight talking – not straight acting.

Still the abuse came. Tweets, Facebook comments, messages, emails. Not just to me, but to colleagues and friends. Angry blogs. Fake news articles littered with personal insults. Made up quotes posted around the internet. Not one considered the effect on my mental health, or the stress of their abuse. For people who define themselves by compassion, they soon forgot it when they thought they could score a retweet.

I joined Labour shortly after Gordon Brown became leader. Back then when we talked about a dodgy blue egg, it meant David Cameron. Things have moved on a lot in the seven years since I joined the party – but the biggest change has been the internal culture.

As a teenager, Labour felt like the most welcoming place in the world. I’m sure some of that was rose tinted and the novelty of it all, but I certainly never felt out of place. No one ever called me a Red Tory if I took a different view to them. And when I took to Twitter to find like-minded people, it felt like an exciting network to be a part of.

It doesn’t feel like that place now. Social media will be the death of the Labour Party if it carries on like this. For a party that tries to hold itself up as a bastion of debate – and that being a key part of Corbyn’s platform – its followers have a remarkable ability to jump to personal, nasty insults when met with a dissenting viewpoint online. For a new young member, it feels like you have to get in line or shut up. Instead of questioning the policy view, now it’s the intent that’s questioned.

It wasn’t like this a year ago. Nasty people existed on Twitter – as they do anywhere – but they didn’t organise themselves, thrive off each other’s faux outrage or aggression, and then tell you don’t have a right to speak. It’s out of control. Calling this out is going to get me more abuse – that’s as plain as daylight. But for the sake of young people enthused by Labour, this problem has to be confronted before something far more serious happens.

That’s why it’s no surprise to me so many young members are looking for new leadership. The weight of abuse is heavy, and Owen Smith speaking up for “zero tolerance” to anti-Semitism and bullying in the first leadership debate last night was a breath of fresh air.

Young members want a party they can be proud of, and that means feeling a safe and free to speak their minds.

Rallies get people riled up and angry about their views. All too often that passion spills into vitriol online. That’s why more than 400 young members signed a letter this week speaking up for Owen Smith. We don’t want Labour activists filling seats at rallies, we want them filling seats in parliament. That means having a much better internal culture so we can build the broad church that wins elections.

My experience has been tough. The abuse for speaking out continues – just while writing this someone has tweeted saying I apparently have eyes the wrong size for my head, and tagged me in it. Young members are calling for controls on trolls – I hope the leadership is finally listening.

Benjamin Butterworth is a journalist and Chair of London Young Labour. He Tweets @benjaminbutter