In 2021, things got really, really bad for Erin Molan.
Endless torrents of abuse started on Twitter and continued to permeate every aspect of her life until she felt like she no longer had a choice – she had to delete the app.
In her new Sky News documentary, Haters Online: Erin Molan Fights Back, the TV presenter and personality logged back on.
"I feel really silly. I feel physically ill," Molan admitted. "It's not because I'm not resilient or not strong but what this represents is so much pain. There's a reason why I don't look at comments and don't look at things because it is the way that I've survived this for so long."
"I'm sorry," she later said through tears. "It's just so many bad memories."
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The pile-on for Molan began in 2013 when she landed a hosting role on The Sunday Footy Show and The Footy Show. It was a monumental achievement to sit in a seat usually occupied by a man, but the feeling of accomplishment was short-lived.
Because suddenly – and almost all at once – a flood of vile, hateful and misogynistic comments online came pouring in.
"There seemed to be a reasonably vocal group of people who would take every opportunity to be quite critical of her and to say that she was ugly and that it should be five fellows on the show rather than a woman," Anne, Molan's mother explained.
"I don't think Erin will ever recover fully from the treatment that she has endured from the hands of her fellow Australians."
Molan's aunty, Clare Page, was also there to witness the cyber-attacks on her niece which occurred on a daily basis. On one occasion, an 'anonymous' person online claimed they'd knew it "to be a fact" that "Erin has slept with 63 rugby league players".
"What was the point of going back and saying, 'I know as a fact this is totally untrue?'" Page recalled during the documentary. "[The message was] public... People see it and believe it."
The worst stage in her life, Molan explained, was when she fell pregnant. What was meant to be a joyous experience was marred by internet trolls.
"The threats online towards my safety were by someone who could've very easily shown up in real life and threatened to do so," she said. "He threatened to end the life of my unborn child then threatened to rape my unborn child."
Sadly, Molan knew all too well online threats can become real after a man who bombarded the TV presenter's social media profiles between 2016 and 2021, then showed up at her workplace and followed her home multiple times.
He sent a photo of his penis with messages calling her a "good mum". His messages – spanning over years – were described by police as nothing less than "obscene".
In 2021, he was placed on a recognisance release order, meaning he must be on good behaviour for three years.
It's just one aspect of abuse Molan has had to undergo, but she wants online trolls who send vile messages to be punished too.
"The abuse I was subjected to... It was essentially for daring to be a woman and doing a job which is working in a male-dominated sport as a host," Molan recalled.
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For the last few years, Molan has been fighting back.
She's been at the forefront of a major campaign to reform the way the government deals with cyber abuse in Australia.
"They were threatening. They were telling me I should die. That I should be raped. That they'll push me in front of a bus – and this was just on things like Twitter and Instagram and Facebook," Molan told the Legislation committee for the Social Media Anti-Trolling Bill in 2022.
The main message the TV host wants to push is that online abuse doesn't just impact celebrities – it touches every single Australian.
"For all the pain – and there's been plenty – I look at what I've gone through and it's helped drive this incredible change and for that I'm really comforted," she said. "We're leading the world in online safety, but we cannot afford to be complacent."
Feature Image: Sky News.
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