Naomi Long: I’ve been a target and a darling – and I will not miss Loyalists Against Democracy (LAD)

The leader of the Alliance Party Naomi Long has said she will not be sorry to see the back of the LAD social media accounts.
By Adam Kula
Published 29th Jul 2020, 15:44 BST
Updated 30th Jul 2020, 10:41 BST
Naomi Long's Twitter pageNaomi Long's Twitter page
Naomi Long's Twitter page

The LAD (loyalists against democracy) accounts appeared on Twitter eight years ago, with the principal aim of mocking loyalists involved in the flag protests.

Many people regarded the accounts as satirical, but others said they fomented hostility and were continually focussing on unionists alone.

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Now, without warning or explanation, these accounts have disappeared.

READ FULL STORY HERE:

Politicians and Jamie Bryson react as Loyalists Against Democracy (LAD) vanishes from cyberspaceEarlier in the day, Alliance councillor Danny Donnelly praised the LAD accounts, saying LAD was “a champion of progressive values”.

The News Letter had asked the Alliance Party HQ where it stood on LAD.

It did not offer one, but pointed the paper to tweets from Naomi Long this afternoon.

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She said: “Where we disagree is that while I acknowledge the account had its humorous moments and raised some valid points, I too won’t be sorry its gone.

Satire is fine but, so is the line between that abuse.

“I’ve been both a target and darling of the account admins on various occasions and anything they tweeted, positive or negative, tended to precede a Twitter pile-on from those who loved it and those who hated it, neither of which was particularly pleasant at times.”

LAD founder John-Paul Whearty has told the News Letter he has had nothing to do with LAD for the last four years – making it a mystery who has taken the site down.

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