Xyla was threatened and Twitter still stayed quiet
20-year old Xyla Foxlin held Twitter accountable after she received online threats and abuse, and the social media giant did nothing about it
Dear friends around the world,
Every single day, I receive some form of abuse on social media. Whether it is on Facebook or on Twitter, I am threatened, sworn at, told to go to hell and someone even say they want me dead or to kill me. They say all of this because of my personal choice to practise Dorje Shugden which they do not agree with. So they send me abusive messages every single day. The strange thing is, most of the time the social media platforms will not do anything about this.
I always suspected it was a universal callousness towards protecting their users’ safety, and my suspicions were confirmed when one of my students forwarded the article below to me. I was shocked but not surprised to read about what Ms Xyla Foxlin has gone through. She became the victim of unprovoked, violent and vulgar threats, and when she contacted Twitter and reported it to them, she was met with a wall of silence.
Out of all the social media platforms, I have always known Twitter to be the most unresponsive to reports. How can anyone harass, abuse and threaten someone else and get away with it? It seems Twitter is okay for someone to threaten another person’s physical being and reputation, and they will not do anything about it until the authorities get involved. In Ms Foxlin’s case, someone called her derogatory sexual names to ruin her reputation, which could have ruined her business future, relationships with a partner, worried her family, made her look bad in front of friends, etc. Even after the harasser threatened sexual violence against her, and tweeted out her personal address, Twitter still did not do anything!
And it’s amazing that all a person needs to start this type of anonymous harassment is a fake email account.
Anyway Ms Foxlin fought back which I found very inspiring. She’s a hero for standing up for herself against this social media giant and pursuing the matter, and not backing down. I hope she goes all the way with it and becomes something like another Erin Brokovich because it will let Twitter know that they need to take people’s reports seriously. People’s safety and lives are at stake.
What we really need is for more and more people to start standing up to Twitter and other social media platforms in this way. Until more people speak up, Twitter will not have any pressure to change and will continue to let people stay in positions of danger and harm, and do nothing about it. The bottomline is that the only thing Twitter takes seriously is their bottomline and unless they see there is going to be an impact on their profits, they will not make any changes to the user protections policies. Twitter is not unique in this but Twitter is one of the worst offenders, I have read. I am not against Twitter at all as I think it serves many good purposes also. But I just wish Twitter would do more when you are being harassed, threatened, sent racist remarks or your reputation is being abused by someone. If it is reported, twitter should do something immediately. This would curtail others and make them think twice before abusing others online.
Please read carefully the article below, and understand what is happening. When a person is attacked repeatedly on social media, bullied by faceless persons, have their personal information tweeted out, can you imagine if that person already suffers from low self-confidence and they experience this? Imagine the harm it could do to them psychologically, and also how it exposes them to physical danger. Everyone has to stand up to Twitter and say it’s enough already.
Tsem Rinpoche
How a woman took on a Twitter harasser who threatened her with rape — and won
Julie Bort Oct. 1, 2017, 11:30 AM 12,239
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-xyla-foxlin-stopped-twitter-harasser-2017-9/?IR=T
- When startup founder and robotics wiz Xyla Foxlin started gaining national attention, she became the target of a Twitter harasser.
- Foxlin tried to get Twitter to shut down the harassment, which involved rape threats.
- When the threats escalated, Foxlin found a way to hunt down the harasser and put an end to it for good.
20-year-old Xyla Foxlin is quickly becoming a name in the world of robotics. Still in college, she’s already running a startup called Parihug, which makes a plush toy that lets you send a hug over the internet that your child can actually feel.
Parihug had a successful Kickstarter campaign over the summer where it raised $53,415 from 389 backers. This will help Foxlin deliver the toys, hopefully in time for the 2017 holidays. It’s also helped the young Foxlin score an increasing number of speaking gigs, a few robotics awards, and the chance to star in a Microsoft commercial.
But that increased visibility also came with a terrifying dark side: a Twitter stalker.
See no evil
A few months ago, she started getting nasty tweets from a particular user. “It started out with sexual harassment, like ‘you’re sleeping your way to the top,’ and this went on for weeks of very sexually explicit tweets. And then it turned into rape threats,” she told Business Insider.
Foxlin reported the tweets to Twitter via the company’s automated harassment reporting tool and “nothing happening,” she said.
Xyla Foxlin appearing in a Microsoft Surface commercial. (YouTube/Microsoft Surface)
After her friends also started reporting the account, which seemed to be set up just to harass Foxlin as it had no other tweets, the account became private, meaning you could only view the profile’s feed if you followed it.
At that point, “Twitter cleared that as OK. And then it went back to being public,” she recalls.
The general advice on Twitter’s harassment page is to block the account, but this is sort of a “see no evil” approach. It only stops Foxlin from seeing the tweets and the person from seeing Foxlin’s account. It wouldn’t stop others from seeing them.
And Foxlin wanted to know what the person was saying about her because the harasser had moved on from insults to rape threats to “doxing” her, a term used for revealing identifying information about a person without their consent. In this case, the harasser tweeted out Foxlin’s address in response to Twitter users looking for sex, telling them Foxlin was a lady of the night.
The threat level had gone from alarming to beyond unacceptable and that’s when Foxlin sprang into action.
She didn’t just want this person blocked on Twitter, she wanted to learn the identity of the person so she could potentially press charges, or, at the very least, figure out how determined this person was to hurt her.
A subpoena and a lucky break
One of Foxlin’s friends contacted the campus police about the situation but Foxlin says they didn’t really take it seriously. They did, however, direct her to the local Title IX office. Title IX is an organization that helps students find legal recourse over sexual violence and other serious issues. They put her in contact with a campus police detective who told her that most of the time, online harassment is someone you know. He encouraged her to quiz her friends and acquaintances.
She opted instead to ask him and Title IX to file a subpoena on her behalf with Twitter, asking for information about the account. The detective warned her the subpoena probably wouldn’t provide them with anything beyond a fake email address.
Foxlin also worked another angle. She found an engineer who worked at Twitter through one of the women-in-tech networks she belonged to and reached out. This woman immediately helped escalate things at Twitter, leading the social network to shut down the account, once the harassment folks saw the doxing.
Twitter had no comment on Foxlin’s case. A representative told us, “We will action anything that breaks our rules. Beyond that, I cannot comment on the details of what happened in any specific instance for privacy and security reasons.”
As luck would have it, the subpoena turned up some key information — the harasser had used a real email address. And the detective was right: the person was a fellow robotics student that Foxlin had helped mentor. And the harasser was a woman.
The detective called the harasser and at first she denied it. When he then warned her that he had grounds for a search warrant and lying to him could land her in bigger trouble, the woman confessed.
Once outed, the woman wrote Foxlin a long apology letter. Foxlin is still debating if this is the end of it or if she’ll take further legal action.
The whole process took about two months and was intensely frustrating. “Twitter support was a bot,” Foxlin said, meaning it was very difficult for her to get a real person to actually review the harassment and take immediate action, at least until she tapped into the women-engineering network and found a friend. At that point, given that her address was being tweeted out, the company responded quickly and took action.
She’s also very glad she tracked the person down and didn’t just block the account. “It was two months of not knowing who to trust,” Foxlin said. “It’s incredibly emotionally draining and time consuming to pursue it. But being silent and bottling it up makes it worse.”
Although Business Insider saw about a dozen tweets and DMs sent by the harasser (some are published on this Medium post Foxlin wrote), most of them are too explicit to share.
Here is an example of the type of tweet that did cause Twitter to step in and shut down the account for good.
For more interesting information:
- Dorje Shugden: My side of the story | 多杰雄登：我这方面的说法
- Will the Dalai Lama agree with this?
- They want to kill me
- Be careful of what you post online
- My social media image was a lie
- Victory over Online Hate
- Why so rude?
- Should We Delete Our Facebook Accounts?
- Why is she putting the Dalai Lama down?
- Tolerance Tweets
- Rudeness Is a Neurotoxin
- Social media rudeness will not be tolerated in Malaysia!
Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:
If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
Mantras are sacred verbalized words that invoke the protection and blessings of the deity to whom the mantra is ascribed. Mantras are also the manifestations of Buddhas in the form of ‘sounds’, hence the various mantras of Dorje Shugden contain the essence of the Protector.
Dorje Shugden’s main mantra 多杰雄登主要咒语
OM BENZA WIKI BITANA SOHA
Dorje Shugden’s mantra for peace 平和咒语
For gaining attainments through the energy of Peaceful Shugden, peace of environment and mind, harmony in one’s abode and dwelling area, and calming of disasters
OM BENZA WIKI BITANA SHANTI SIDDHI HUNG
Dorje Shugden’s mantra for health 福寿安康咒语
For long life, increasing life, healing of disease and protection from diseases
OM BENZA WIKI BITANA AYU SIDDHI HUNG
Dorje Shugden’s mantra for increase 增长咒语
For gaining great merits and increase of all necessary needs, both material and spiritual
OM BENZA WIKI BITANA PUNYE SIDDHI HUNG
Dorje Shugden’s mantra for control 控制咒语
Of worldly deities, negative people and nagas and for influencing friends towards the positive
OM BENZA WIKI BITANA WASHAM KURU HO
Dorje Shugden’s mantra to grant protection 庇护咒语
Visualize that you are in the Protector’s mandala, fully protected from outside interferences. Recite when in danger or for dangerous situations, for protection while travelling or when residing in dangerous/hostile places
OM BENZA WIKI BITANA RAKYA RAKYA HUNG
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videouploads/comment-1544345059.mp4
Dear friends,
Tibet has produced many powerful meditations, rituals and guidelines to help us gain spiritual protection, gain wisdom and higher states of consciousness. In general Tibet has produced many powerful methods for the growth of our spiritual evolution. Dorje Shugden is an angel, a saint, a powerful spiritual protector-warrior who originated 350 years ago when a highly awakened Tibetan Lama fulfilled his vows to become a special being to grant protection, wisdom, material needs, safety when travelling (normal and astral travel) and spiritual awakening. Both the Great 5th Dalai Lama and the current His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama composed short yet effective prayers to invoke upon the power and blessings of this special saint and protector. One can recite either one of the prayers that you feel suits you, anytime or even daily. When you feel a special need for help, you can recite either prayer anytime. When you are feeling down, afraid or just need a blessing, you can recite them. After reciting either invocation, it is good to chant the mantra of Dorje Shugden: Om Benza Wiki Bitana Soha.
You do not have to be a Buddhist or practitioner of any religion to invoke upon the blessings and protection of this special enlightened and awakened angel Dorje Shugden. He helps all without discrimination or bias as he is filled with compassion and love. Divinity has no boundaries, they help all who call upon them.
Enclosed are the prayers in English, Chinese and Tibetan.
May you be safe, protected and blessed.
Tsem Rinpoche
More on the Great 5th Dalai Lama and Dorje Shugden – https://bit.ly/2w7KHv6
More on H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama and Dorje Shugden – https://bit.ly/2QdaL4n
Chapel (Trode Khangsar) built by the Great 5th Dalai Lama dedicated to Dorje Shugden in Lhasa – https://bit.ly/2zBTd8M
—
亲爱的朋友们，
西藏产生了许多有助于我们得到精神庇佑、取得智慧和更高层次之觉悟的强大禅修法、仪式和教诲。总括来说，西藏产生了许多有助于我们在修行上取得提升的强有力方法。多杰雄登是一个天使，一位圣人和一名护法战士。他的崛起始于350年前，当一位高度觉悟的西藏高僧履行本身的承诺，化身为特别的护法，赐予我们守护、智慧、物质需要、出入平安（平日外游和神游时）和灵修上的觉醒。任何人都可以随时随地在任何时候念诵适合自己的祈愿文。当你需要特别的帮助时，你可以随时念诵任何一篇祈愿文。当你感到沮丧、恐惧或仅是需要加持时，你也可以持诵这些祈愿文。在念诵任何祈请文后，你应该接着念诵多杰雄登的心咒：嗡 班杂 维格 毗札那 娑哈 Om Benza Wiki Bitana Soha。
要祈请多杰雄登这位特殊、觉悟和觉醒的天使赐予加持和庇佑，你无需是佛教徒或任何宗教的修行者。他总是没有分别或偏见，充满慈悲和慈爱地帮助一切众生。神圣是没有界限的，圣者会帮助有求于他的任何人。
以下附上英文、中文和藏文的祈愿文。
愿你平安，常受庇护和加持。
尊贵的詹杜固仁波切
更多关于第五世达赖尊者和多杰雄登护法的内容 — https://bit.ly/2zsC3tG
更多关于第十四世达赖尊者和多杰雄登护法的内容 — https://bit.ly/2r4aaDN
第五世达赖尊者为多杰雄登护法在拉萨建造的护法殿（布旦康萨）— https://bit.ly/2zBTd8M
Divination (‘mo’) Text by Dorje Shugden
This is an important divination (‘mo’) text composed by Dorje Shugden himself. Dorje Shugden took trance of the Choyang Dulzin oracle lama, the senior oracle of Gaden Shartse Monastery, and instantly on the spot composed this text within two hours.
The divination text contains information on how to use dice to do divination for the future and is known to be highly accurate. When practitioners use this text, they will be in direct contact with Dorje Shugden to get answers to questions about the future. It is for those who have good samaya with Dorje Shugden and are free of the eight worldly dharmas to be of benefit to others in divining the future.
Tsem Rinpoche
DS-MO-choyang.pdf
Be blessed with these rare videos featuring explanation and advice about Dorje Shugden practice by His Holiness Kyabje Zong Rinpoche in his own voice. The teaching was requested by Geshe Tsultrim Gyeltsen, one of the earliest masters who taught Tibetan Buddhism in the West.
Video 1: H.H. Kyabje Zong Rinpoche Explains Dorje Shugden Initiation and Benefits (With English Subtitles)
Kyabje Zong Rinpoche was an erudite scholar, ritual master and practitioner of the highest degree from Tibet. At the request of Geshe Tsultrim Gyeltsen, one of the pioneers who taught Tibetan Buddhism in America, Kyabje Zong Rinpoche gives clear explanation and advice about the life-entrustment initiation of Dorje Shugden and how to go about the practice and get the maximum benefits in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzFMvlxAqtc&feature=youtu.be
Video 2: H.H. Kyabje Zong Rinpoche speaks on the History and Lineage of Dorje Shugden (With English Subtitles)
In this video, an erudite scholar, ritual master and practitioner of the highest degree from Tibet, Kyabje Zong Rinpoche talks about the incarnation lineage of Dorje Shugden and how the practice arose, with examples of Dorje Shugden’s previous lives that reveal his powerful spiritual attainments and contributions. This very rare teaching was given at the request of Kyabje Zong Rinpoche’s student, Geshe Tsultrim Gyeltsen, one of the pioneers who taught Buddhism in the West to many disciples since the 1970s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIzKSJgK618&feature=youtu.be
For more information: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/great-lamas-masters/kyabje-zong-rinpoches-advice-on-dorje-shugdens-practice.html
For the first time available, Dorje Shugden and his entourage of 32 asssistants of his mandala.
Dorje Shugden is a powerful protector deity who is also an emanation of Manjushri, a wisdom bestowing Buddha. Therefore, he has great ability to help us to progress further on the spiritual path. He does this by helping us to overcome obstacles and problems for the modern individual.
Due to his enlightened nature, Dorje Shugden is able to manifest 32 deities and within the same abode resides Setrap and Kache Marpo:-
1. 5 Dorje Shugden families or emanations. They consists of the following:-
– Dulzin Dorje Shugden, which performs activities to eliminate inner and outer obstacles.
– Shize, which performs activities to pacify all illnesses and disease.
– Gyenze, which performs activities to increase all desirable material and spiritual wealth.
– Wangze, which performs activities to control difficult people and circumstances.
– Trakze, which performs activities to wrathfully eliminate all insurmountable obstacles and life-threatening situations.
2. 9 Mothers. They represent protection of the five senses and developing control of the four elements. These are all attributes that signify their ability to assist tantric practitioners with their higher meditations.
3. 8 Guiding Monks. They represent the Eight Great Bodhisattvas (Avalokitesvara, Manjushri, Vajrapani, Samantabhadra, Maitreya, Kshitigarbha, Akashagarbha, Sarva-nivarana-viskambini) and they bring about the growth of the Dharma, through the Sangha, Dharma practitioners and Dharma establishments.
4. 10 Youthful & Wrathful Attendants. They represent the ten wrathful attendants to avert inner and outer obstacles. They are beings who are from Mongolia, China, Kashmir, India, Bengali, etc.
5. Setrap. He is a senior Dharma Protector from India and an emanation of Amitabha Buddha. He had enthroned Dorje Shugden as an authentic Dharma Protector. Therefore, he also resides within the same mandala of Dorje Shugden.
6. Kache Marpo. He is not an emanation of Dorje Shugden but he is still an enlightened Dharma Protector in his own right. He was originally known as Tsiu Marpo of Samye Monastery. However, he has placed himself under the service of Dorje Shugden as his chief minister, performing many activities in order to protect and benefit practitioners. Therefore, he stands guard at the main entrance of Dorje Shugden’s mandala. He often takes trance of qualified mediums to speak.
7. Namkar Barzin. He is the reincarnation of an old Mongolian monk and when he passed away in Phari area of Tibet, his spirit was placed as a powerful assistant of Dorje Shugden. He guards and protects buildings and great institutions especially those that benefit others. He rides on a mythical Gyaling animal that resembles a goat but with scales.
These sacred images are available on *Vajrasecrets. They are made of high quality alloy and are one of a kind. They are based on the lineage of His Holiness Panchen Rinpoche’s monastery, Tashilhunpo in Shigatse, Tibet. In fact, the iconography of these statues are based on detailed photographs taken by H. E. Tsem Rinpoche during a trip to Tashilhunpo’s protector chapel. These are based exactly as the 10th Panchen Lama’s personal collection.
Dorje Shugden mandala: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=131570
Dorje Shugden’s benefit and practice: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=62422
Dorje Shugden’s origins: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=106424
Dorje Shugden chapel in His Holiness Panchen Rinpoche’s Tashilhunpo Monastery in Tibet: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=68698
*Stand not included
His Holiness the 10th Panchen Lama
Tibetans commonly refer to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and His Holiness 10th Panchen Lama as the “sun and moon” of Tibetan Buddhism. They are the center of Tibetan Buddhist civilization, which draws to its sphere of influence millions of non-Tibetan practitioners. The Panchen Lama’s incarnation line began with the 16th abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, Lobsang Chokyi Gyeltsen (1570 – 1662). He was bestowed the title of Panchen Lama by His Holiness the 5th Dalai Lama after being declared as an emanation of Amitabha.
After being given the title, his three previous incarnations were posthumously also bestowed the title, making Lobsang Chokyi Gyeltsen the 4th Panchen Lama. He became a teacher to many Tibetans, Bhutanese and Mongolian religious figures, including His Holiness the 4th and 5th Dalai Lamas, and the 1st Jetsun Dampa of Mongolia. A prolific author, Chokyi Gyeltsen is credited with over a hundred compositions, including a number of commentaries and ritual texts that remain central in the Gelukpa tradition today. Along with his role as a teacher of the Dharma, the Panchen Lamas are usually responsible for the recognition of the rebirths of the Dalai Lamas, and vice versa.
The 10th Panchen Lama, Lobsang Trinley Lhundrub Chokyi Gyeltsen (19 February 1938 – 28 January 1989) continued both the spiritual and political roles of his predecessors. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, his contemporary, was even heard to say and echo the Panchen Lama’s own words that the Dalai Lama would safeguard Tibet from the outside while the Panchen Lama would safeguard Tibet from the inside, as he never left Tibet after the political troubles of 1959. He was truly loved by the Tibetans, all the way until his passing. When he taught, thousands of people would attend, not only from his own Gelug lineage, but masters and practitioners from all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
At his sprawling monastery of Tashi Lhunpo, he has a special chapel specifically dedicated to Dorje Shugden, where prayers and rituals are performed on a daily basis. In his great omniscience the Panchen Lama held Dorje Shugden as the principal Dharma protector of the monastery. He also personally propitiated Dorje Shugden among other Dharma protectors, and even wrote extensive prayers and rituals to Dorje Shugden. These rituals and prayers are contained within his ‘sung bum’ or collected works, which are provided here. As such a great lama, with an erudite and clear understanding of the Buddhist scriptures, a teacher to millions in both Tibet and China, from an established incarnation line and an emanation of the Buddha Amitabha, he could not be mistaken about his practice of Dorje Shugden.
His Holiness 10th Panchen Lama is known for his composition of commentaries and practice texts that are still in use by contemporary Buddhist practitioners both in Tibet and across the world. One of these is a powerful ritual composition propitiating the compassionate Dorje Shugden.
Upon the request by Acharya Lobsang Jangchub to compose a shorter version of the prayer (sadhana) for the exhortation of activities of Dorje Shugden, Panchen Lama immediately composed an abbreviate form of Dorje Shugden’s Kangsol. This text is entitled “Manjunatha’s (Tsongkapa) Lineage protector Dorje Shugden and five forms wrathful propitiations and confessional prayers and fulfilment of activities rites” or “Melodious sound of Accomplishment of the Four Activities” for short. Once the prayers were completed, he had signs and strong feelings that Dorje Shugden has been working hard to protect the Buddhadharma in general and the lineage of Lama Tsongkhapa specifically.
Mirroring the abilities of one of his earlier incarnations, Khedrub Je, a disciple of Lama Tsongkhapa and master of both sutra and tantra, the Panchen Lama used his compositional skill and poetic prowess to create a masterful sadhana. Worthy of note is a praise in which the first letter of each verse is a Tibetan vowel. Such compositions are rarely seen, and have historically only been used when propitiating senior Dharma protectors such as Palden Lhamo and Kalarupa.
The Panchen Lama also stated that while composing the Dorje Shugden sadhana (prayers) he was filled with a sense of happiness and bliss. He ends the composition with not only his official title but his ordination name, Tenzin Trinley Jigme Choje Wangchuk, endorsing the validity of his work. He composed the sadhana in his own Tashi Lhunpo monastery while in the Hall of Clear Light and Bliss.
See the Panchen Lama’s writings and download: https://bit.ly/2KIfeXb
This elderly & innocent monk in India was brutally attacked, find out why. Shocking – https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=163953
“If the Dalai Lama, if His Holiness the Dalai Lama can be harmed by Dorje Shugden, then we might as well not practice Buddhism anymore. If His Holiness the Dalai Lama can have his life shortened by a so-called evil spirit, any evil spirit, then can he be Avalokiteshvara? So on one hand you say, we say, I say, everybody says, he is Avalokiteshvara; on the other hand you’re saying that he can be harmed by an evil spirit… Which one is it? Can he be harmed by an evil spirit or is he Avalokiteshvara? Do you think Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, Vajrapani, Tara all take refuge in something else to protect themselves from Dorje Shugden? How illogical is that? How illogical of people to say His Holiness the Dalai Lama can be harmed by an evil spirit, any evil spirit or “Dorje Shugden” evil spirit. How is that possible?” – Tsem Tulku Rinpoche
Photo: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, young Tsem Tulku Rinpoche and Tsem Tulku Rinpoche’s tutor Kensur Rinpoche Jampa Yeshe
DON’T MISS THIS! FANTASTIC NEW GREAT STUFF! High quality videos redressing the misinformation about Dorje Shugden practice and people and the current sad Tibetan situation and why they are losing ground in the world. Powerful and truthful – CLEAR VIDEOS – https://bit.ly/2LJbo35
Sakya tradition’s thangka of Dorje Shugden sitting on a throne within his palace with his four emanations and high Sakya Lamas nearby. Tsem Rinpoche
Antique Pelden Lhamo thangka with sacred Dorje Shugden at the bottom right. Can see Tsongkapa and Guru Rinpoche on the top also. Beautiful and holy.
This video condensed and made simple the history of the Dorje Shugden ban and the sufferings Dorje Shugden people experienced and continue to experience for 20 years. The video also laid out and reveal the truth and facts that Dorje Shugden was the Protector who advised His Holiness the Dalai Lama to flee to India and hence His Holiness’ life is saved. There is no religious freedom for the Dorje Shugden people worldwide because of the Dorje Shugden ban executed by the Central Tibetan Administration. We are, until today being discriminated and persecuted for simply practising our choice of religion and this is the truth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gis2vaURT40
Even though social networking sites keep people connected and have many other great use. There are also some disadvantages and ways these sites can be misused. Social networking sites have become an established part of everyday life for many people. It is beneficial when we use it right. It’s NOT for stalking people.
There are several crimes committed from social media from Twitter, Facebook and so on. Ms Xyla Foxlin has gone through all the abuses ,brave and dare to report to Twitter but nothing was done.
Since then she acted on own her , with help from friends she finally managed to trace and settle it ,on top of that she received a note of apology letter.
Hope Twitter would do more to stop all these ugly incident from getting worse. If it is reported, twitter should do something immediately. This would make them think twice before abusing others online.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing
Can i post this?
We should fulfil the will of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for an autonomous Tibetan state.
Dear friends,
This meme is powerful. Who you hang around with and the types of attitude they have is who you will be influenced by many times and who you will become in the future. Look at your friends and the people that always surround you to know who you will become.
Tsem Rinpoche
Recently Beng Kooi and Martin on behalf of myself and Kechara was lucky to have audience with His Holiness Gaden Trisur Rinpoche Jetsun Lungrik Namgyal of Gaden Shartse Monastery. He lives in around Paris, France. His Holiness is 91 years old and very healthy and alert. He was the 101st throne holder for Tsongkapa and was the head of the Gelugpa school of Buddhism and was very successful during his tenure. He is a strong practitioner of both Sutra and Tantra of Je Tsongkapa’s tradition and a master of all Buddhist knowledge. He holds steadfast to his protector Dorje Shugden very strongly. So we can see even the highest throneholders who are masters of Sutra and Tantra also practices Dorje Shugden knowing the benefits.
Beng Kooi and Martin brought photo albums of Kechara Forest Retreat/Kechara and updates on Kechara and our works. His Holiness was very pleased to listen and offered some gifts back.
This is a beautiful picture and the great blessings bestowed on us from His Holiness Gaden Trisur Rinpoche Jetsun Lungrik Namgyal.
Humbly,
Tsem Rinpoche
I think as an international brand and responsible corporate citizen, Twitter should take action and not sit back until something happens. The problem with not acting on threats real or perceived is that, if a person can do it, and not suffer any consequences, many other copycats can follow suit.
This other lady who who tried to harass Xyla, could have been motivated by a variety of reasons, could even be out of jealousy. So Twitter should protect its ‘users’ who are its valuable customers. It makes perfect business sense to do so.
Ms Foxlin is a very smart lady who knows how to go about getting the right people to take actions. What about the thousands more who are not so savvy? The platform providers like Twitter are being too cautious to not get sued that they are leaving the human aspect behind. There are many more social platforms that do not do much to help their users. I remember there was a platform for teens called ask.FM. There were many cases of cyberbullying there but all the reports went unheeded causing many teens who couldn’t take the bullying, to commit suicide.
There need be better actions for platform providers to ensure safety of their users. Kudos to Ms Foxlin for having the smarts and courage to stand up and solve her problem. Hopefully, from here on, Twitter will be more pro-active in dealing with reports of abuse in their platform.
Great message every Tibetan especially must read!
Twitter is a great social media platform but too robotic in handling abuse and violent tweets. Twitter should look into developing improved security for its users and seriously take action by real people not robotics to protect its users from abuse. Not many people would have Xyla’s kind of connection in Twitter to connect to to solve abuses. It must be a great relieve for Xyla to be able to identify where the threat come from and nip it. However, there are many people out there on Twitter who have to suffer constant attacks on Twitter just because they practice a different religion.
Cyber community is a space for us to communicate and to share information. But some people has misused it and used as a tools for harassment, abuse and threaten. For all the social media platform like Twitter and Facebook, they have to ensure that every user abide the rules and do not misused the facility. If there is a report, must investigate and take the necessary action to ensure peace and harmony in the cyber community.
Dear Rinpoche,
Xyla Foxling was indeed lucky her harasser used a genuine email and could trace back to her to stop all the online abuses.
However, it is not often the case for Rinpoche as many accounts are fake and created just to affect Rinpoche’s reputation and life.
I do hope all the social media giants will step up to curb all these, and the respective countries’ law will be enforced so people will think twice before posting nasty and derogatory comments.
Malaysia has 3 laws pertaining to cyber-bullying and I believe it is so for many other countries, however, it is limited to if the users identities are revealed. Where many times, all nasty messages are hidden behind fake accounts, it makes no sense and difficult to persecute the offenders.
I really hope it will be improved as we move into the new era of communications.
Thank you.
Social media platform should always be alerted of such cyber bully on their platform to protect the safety of the users. While social media is a good platform to send messages and news to benefit others, they are many who abuse the usage and use it to hurt and damage ones reputation. The management of social media is definitely responsible to monitor such action. In addition, local authority should also set rules to curb cyber bullies.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article and also appreciate Rinpoche’s effort in lifting Dorje Shugden ban. Because of your tireless effort, you have to endure threat and cruel comments everyday via various social media. I hope the ban will be lifted and Rinpoche do not need to receive all the hurtful messages anymore.
Knowing how uncaring Twitter is about being the platform to harass and threaten users on Twitter, it seem like very dangerous to be on twitter.
Such is the case with H.E the 25th Tsem Rinpoche who received vulgar, crude and extremely threatening comments on a daily basis. All that Rinpoche was doing was to teach the Dharma to benefit others especially in the propitiation of Protector Dorje Shugden on which a Ban was placed by the Central Tibetan Authority (CTA) in Dharamsala.
I congratulate Miss Foxlin for her tenacity to go after her tormentors and with her story, Twitter will do something to protect innocent people.
Wow! Her story is very compelling but it is nothing like what rinpoche experiences on a daily basis. As a result of the Shugden ban, Rinpoche has hundreds of ignorant Tibetans who come one to harass rinpoche while social media platforms like Twitter does little to nothing to support. The problem about harassment on social media is a very important issue that has received very little airplay and support.
While Rinpoche is a monk and perhaps expected to forgive his ignorant online assailants but when a large number of them come on relentlessly, how is forgiveness going to help the situation? What about the loss of reputation for the monk who depend on these platforms to reach out. Why is a monk expected to practice patience and forgiveness and someone like this lady allowed to seek a better solution.
There is a long way more to go for social media platform to rise up and take responsibility of harassment reports. They have to hire real people instead of relying on programmed bots to do the dirty job of assessing each case as was mentioned by Xyla.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing. Social media is a platform and means of communication or marketing tools and to share dharma and knowledge.
Many concerns have been raised about possible links on social media and the issues of cyberbullying, online harassment and “trolling”.
Pray that more people will be like Foxlin so that twitter will relook into their policy and protect all users.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing this very inspiring and real story on how one can protect against online social media abuse. You have hit the nail on the head with regards to almost any commercial enterprise that the one thing that matter most is the bottom line. And Twitter is no exception. They exist to satisfy the shareholders’ interests, which is to make lots of profit.
It is sad that the social media world is full of abuse and there will always be people out there who would use it to harass the target until the harasser achieves his/ her target, which is always selfish in nature.
Perhaps we need more spotlight on other cases similar to Xyla’s before Twitter really wakes up and start to have an actively practiced policy to serve and protect users from any kind of abuse (small or big). But I guess when their bottom-line is hurt, then they may take action, which is sometimes a little too late.
We pray and seek our Protector Dorje Shugden to always look after genuine social media users from any kind of abuse and may compassion be extended to the abuser too.
Lum Kok Luen