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Irish Examiner
27-06-2025
- Irish Examiner
Should the anonymous Tattle Life posters be worried?
Since its inception in 2017, Tattle Life has become a go-to space for discussing or slating public figures, celebrities, and influencers. Anonymity offers posters a shield, allowing them to post their honest (or potentially deceitful) views without fear of retribution - or so they thought. In light of the recent unmasking of the person/entities behind the Tattle website, should the anonymous Tattle posters be worried about their identities being uncovered? If you are responsible for any of the nasty content on Tattle, it might be time for some self-reflection regarding your online presence. While you can rest easy that no blanket order will be made against Tattle forcing them to disclose the email addresses of all posters to the website, a court can grant orders against Tattle, on a case-by-case basis, compelling them to disclose email addresses connected to certain usernames. A court can only do this if an individual who has been defamed or otherwise legally wronged on Tattle makes an application to court asking that such an order be made. That application to court can be expensive — legal costs typically range between €10,000 and €20,000, depending on whether the application is contested. Donna Sands (left) and Neil Sands (right) spent four years trying to track down the owners of Tattle Life who are UK national Sebastian Bond and Hong Kong-registered companies Yuzu Zest Ltd and Kumquat Tree Ltd. Photo: Instagram This cost would be too significant for a lot of people but as we have seen in the Sands case, there are individuals with the resources to fund such applications. Even if an order is made against Tattle, compelling them to release the email addresses connected with specific usernames, there is the added layer that the person/entities behind Tattle are based outside of Ireland and while they are bound by the order made and legally are obliged to comply with it, it would be a long and expensive road to take the matter further if they don't comply. If someone's email address is released on foot of a court order, it may or may not reveal the person's identity – it depends on whether it contains a real name or other identifiable information or whether it is publicly available and linked to an identifiable online profile. If the email is anonymous or generic, the person's real identity may require forensic investigation — a costly and complex process but one which certain individuals with sufficient resources may undertake in order to protect their reputation. Defamation Bringing a defamation claim itself is also a costly process. In the High Court costs typically range between €30,000 and €80,000, depending on complexity and whether it's contested. Proceedings in the Circuit Court will cost less but it still remains prohibitively expensive for most people. If a person wins a defamation case, the defamer will be responsible for paying not only any damages awarded to the defamed person but their legal costs as well. Damages in defamation cases vary widely, from a few thousand euros to hundreds of thousands, depending on the severity of the case, the prominence of the defamed person, and whether the defamer is deemed to have acted maliciously. While a defamer may have no assets and may therefore be at little risk financially, the defamed individual may take sufficient comfort in the legal victory of having a 'Tattler' named and shamed in the public domain regardless of whether they actually receive the compensation they are entitled to. If you've posted something on Tattle that could be considered defamatory or malicious, the safest course of action is to delete it. Deleting your post does not mean you're immune to being sued but it would certainly lessen the chances of that happening. You may be saying 'well anything I've posted is true and true statements are not defamatory'. Correct. However, knowing something to be true and proving the truth of a statement in court are two entirely different things and unless you have people (witnesses) to back you up, you shouldn't take much comfort from the fact you think it's true, if on the face of it, it's defamatory. Stephanie Coughlan: 'If you've posted something on Tattle that could be considered defamatory or malicious, the safest course of action is to delete it.' If your posts are over two years old, that would also diminish the likelihood of being successfully sued or sued at all as the defamed individual would be outside of the limitation period for a defamation action (which is one year but can be extended to two years in certain circumstances). However, you can't assume that a court will not order the release of your email address even in this situation. While most Tattle posters will never be identified, the potential for identification does exist. Hopefully this Tattle tale will be a wake-up call to us all on the importance of being mindful of our online behaviour. While the law strives to balance free speech with accountability, it's clear that those who post harmful content could be unmasked. Recent awards/settlements relating to online posts by individuals have ranged from €40,000-€140,000 (sometimes excluding legal costs). Think carefully before posting and remember what you say online can have real-world consequences.
Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Tattle Life trolls panic and scramble to delete their accounts from 'toxic' forum amid fears they could be exposed - after site's gossip king Sebastian Bond was unmasked
Tattle Life trolls are scrambling to protect their identities after the founder of the 'toxic' gossip site was unmasked in a court judgment. Sebastian Bond, a 41-year-old vegan influencer from a comfortable middle-class background, was last week unmasked as the mysterious administrator behind the forum known for criticising and spreading gossip about public figures. After Bond's identity was sensationally revealed following legal action from married couple Donna and Neil Sands, who successfully sued for defamation and were awarded £300,000, other anonymous figures who posted on the site appear to be panicking that they, too, could soon be exposed. Taking to another online forum, Reddit, people who claim to be Tattle Life contributors say they're scrambling to delete their accounts and asking for assurances that their identities will remain secret. Past and present 'tattlers' are attempting to seek out others who have posted gossip on the forums, while others have lamented they are 'ashamed' and 'sick' over their contribution to the forum. Meanwhile some contributors have asked if they need to 'worry' about being 'outed', while another defiantly shared tips for 'posting safely on Tattle [Life]'. One telling post was written by someone who claimed to be a 'normal person with kids and a job with a lot of bills' but now feels 'sick' over their involvement with the Tattle Life blog. 'I'm not a stalker I am just a normal person with kids and a job with a lot of bills. I thought I was just on a forum for general chit chat and celeb type gossip,' they wrote. 'At the beginning I wasn't worried because honestly anything I've said I would say in real life but the way Tattle [Life] is being presented now, if you never heard of Tattle [Life] before, you would think it was this awful place where horrible people spend their days stalking people. 'So now I feel sick. I can't eat or sleep. I feel ashamed I was on there, if my name got leaked in a general hack or it was given out legally I don't know what I would do'. The anonymous handle appeared to be in a state of panic over possibly losing their job or having their name 'forever blackened' due to setting up a Tattle Life account with their real email address. They also feared what could happen to their children if they were exposed for contributing to Tattle Life's threads. The person said they tried asking the administrator to remove a post where they had gossiped about someone's home as it could be considered 'doxxing'. Doxxing is the intentional online exposure of an individual's identity, private information or personal details without their consent. 'I was just gossiping about where they might move to but turns out my guess was right and now I'm terrified they will come for me' the poster continued. They then went on to show remorse for their actions and feared they had now 'ruined' their life. 'I never meant to cause anyone harm and I can see how it might have made them feel now. I feel so horrible. I hate that I've done this I feel like I have ruined my life. I've tried to set up a new email for this but it's so hard to get an email where you don't have to give your mobile for verification.' Some users were sympathetic and told them not to worry about it, while one person advised them to contact mental health charity, Samaritans. Others said the poster was blowing their ordeal out of proportion as their actions did not amount to 'waging a sustained campaign of stalking, harassment and criminality'. Tattle Life attracts 12 million visitors a month, and is supposedly aimed at exposing disingenuous influencers who make money from social media, but it rapidly descended into a paradise for trolls to aim abuse at anyone in the limelight they deemed fit. Simply put, Tattle Life became an unchecked breeding ground for bullying, 'doxxing' and outright lies. One person admitted to getting 'sucked into the negativity of Tattle [Life]' as they found the threads 'thrilling'. In a comment written under the initial Reddit post, they said they later felt 'dirty' and had since deleted their Tattle Life account. 'In my day to day life, I live a very happy and positive life. I got sucked into the negativity of Tattle [Life] as it was almost thrilling getting to hear the scandals of local influencers' wrote the anonymous user. 'I commented a few times on things about influencers with their lies and mostly over consumption - if I said those comments out loud to my partner or friend it made sense. But I feel like because I said it on Tattle [Life] anonymously, always the next day I regretted getting involved and felt dirty almost. 'I've deleted my account now and glad I no longer give a s***. I'm starting to unfollow lots of influencers and trying my best to stay off social media. People say "hurt people hurt people" but actually, my life was really fulfilling. I just didn't have any negativity or drama in my life, I read Tattle [Life] like it was a reality TV show. Entertainment at best!' The person then seemingly tried to disassociate themselves from those who have carried out similar behaviours, writing: 'I understand there are people who are obsessed with commenting about influencers and I do think there is a very fine line from making a passive aggressive comment to being evil'. An initial glimpse at Nest and Glow won't rouse suspicions that its founder is running a social media platform that has become known for its 'cruel' remarks Responding to this comment, a fellow Tattle Life user said they felt no regret but instead stood by everything they had ever posted on the website. 'I post on Tattle [Life] so my husband doesn't have to hear me moan about influencers as he doesn't care. I stand by everything I've said,' They wrote. 'I am a complete b***h to be honest,' agreed another. Attesting to how easy it is for your true identity to be unearthed, someone else wrote: 'My sister actually figured out who I was on Tattle [Life], I was so gutted as I felt like I had to then be careful with what I was posting!' Earlier this month it was reported that the owner of Tattle Life, Sebastian Bond, could face a raft of new lawsuits from stars defamed on his website. Celebrity targets have so far included Molly-Mae Hague, Katie Price, 'mummy bloggers' with tiny followings and even former Great British Bake-Off judge and national treasure Dame Mary Berry. Partners of influencers and even their children have been on the receiving end of abuse and mockery over their weight and disabilities - while private details such as their home addresses have been shared on the forum. The vegan cookbook author secretly presided over the site, which makes an estimated £276,770 in Google Ad revenue every six months, according to figures from 2021. The depth of the legal hole that Bond has found himself in is projected to grow exponentially, which has left Tattle Life users hysterical as they fear the potential of their own legal and punitive consequences. One person who admitted to sharing Tattle Life 'links' on Instagram asked fellow users if they were 'screwed' even though they had since deleted their account. They also lamented how they would explain the scandal to their friends and family if they were ever exposed. Taking to Reddit, they wrote: 'When I posted, I did post some links to Instagram. Now I saw someone saying that that is how they found out who you are. 'Is there any way to know [it's me]? Am I screwed? I'm thinking of deleting my Instagram account just in case but don't know how I'd explain that to my friends and family'. Another person, seemingly in the same boat, commented: 'Didn't realise this was a thing! What is this? If you copied a link signed into your Instagram they can then work out who you are?' In another Reddit post, one person revealed they had been a 'very active' user on Tattle Life for a decade, but after a friend learned their identity they feared how exposure would affect their 'fragile mentality'. 'I joined as a teenager, I can't have been much older than 18 at the time' they stated. 'Someone worked me out this year, I was still contributing but not as often and honestly she made a bit of a song and dance of it all, bent the truth a bit and I chose to just continue on with my life. She hasn't doxxed me, I appreciate it to be honest, I've got very fragile mental health and this is something which had me contributing to Tattle [Life] and I do genuinely think it's the same for a lot of people on that site. 'This case coming up has obviously thrust Tattle [Life] into the topic of conversation again, I've been observing this thread on my main account (this is a burner)'. The anonymous user went on to criticise other people for 'doxxing' Tattle Life users and likened them to 'bullies'. 'I don't think that people doxxing Tattle users are doing it for the greater good, they talk about bullies and how having threads makes them feel but they name and shame and allow people to bully their contributors, allow people to figure out where they live and work and spread this information, endangering them; honestly being a bit gossipy on Tattle [Life] doesn't warrant the village getting their pitchforks out and literally trying to actively ruin the contributors life it's my opinion'. They then explained that after all was said and done influencers were still permitted to 'make money' while their followers 'ruin the life of an average Jenna because she was bi***hy on Tattle [Life]'. Defending herself against those who disagreed with their post, they wrote: 'I don't use Tattle [Life] anymore. I deleted my account months ago. Telling me to touch grass when I've already expressed remorse and said in the thread beneath I find it cringe worthy, and gross, is counter productive to what I'm even saying here. And annoying. 'I've already stated THRICE I have fragile mental health and believe this to be why I was so into Tattle, telling me to 'get help' is assuming I already haven't. I'm not even trying to justify ever using Tattle [Life] and have said in this actual original post I don't think it should be online. Some of you are just looking for a reason to be nasty which is ironic'. Many users weren't feeling the poster's words and suggested they 'think' before posting next time. Using an example, another user shared why commenting on Tattle Life was more than simple harmless fun. The person wrote: 'If you think Tattle [Life] is just b***hing, I would urge anyone to go and watch the nurse mum on Instagram. The abuse she endured surrounding her poorly child and their subsequent death is absolutely horrendous. That's not b***hing, it's down right cruel and I really hope the people involved are held to account. I'm sure 75 per cent of the people on that site are only there for the b***hing, but sticking around whilst this unhinged behaviour was on display for ALL to see, makes them just as complicit'. Another added: 'You will be doxxed no doubt and probably sued if you've ever said defamatory statements or harassment. Your mental health is fragile, what about the people you harassed and bullied? Just because you're about to be rumbled and potentially sued, it does not mean you are now a victim, it simply means you are facing the consequences of your actions'. Someone else said they also feared their identity would be exposed after years of commenting on Tattle Life. They wrote on Reddit: 'I never partook in that thread involved in the legal battle but have been on Tattle [Life] for years in threads about much smaller influencers. 'It would be a lie if this whole debacle didn't make me rethink about my own comments on Tattle [Life] (however I've never doxxed or done something horrendous like death threats or made comments about appearance). I used it often to voice my opinion about abhorrent behaviors of certain influencers. 'I've noticed a massive drop, if not dead activity on the threads I frequent on. I feel like everyone is worried their identity will be exposed. As much as I feel people shouldn't ever speak about someone in a hateful or dangerous way - it's like now there's a blanket of fear that no one can post on Tattle [Life] anymore in case their information will be sought out'. Other people replied in the comments section where they owned up to having a Tattle Life account and contributing to the blog in some form. One person shared: 'I've never doxxed or taken it as far as posters do but I do use it to vent about annoying traits in certain influencers I follow. I've definitely noticed activity getting lighter which is a shame because I think it can be harmless when you're slagging an influencer's actions ie perfect Instagram, pretending they shop in certain places etc. 'I think the headlines on the site are very over the top. There's elements that need to be moderated better BUT I think stating the site as a whole is only for slating influencers and online personalities is ridiculous. I'm mostly active on TV threads for example. I think influencers and the like are using recent headlines to scare off posters'. Another chimed: 'I am [going to post on Tattle Life]. Don't see why I shouldn't. In recent times I've largely only posted on the politics and TV threads anyway. I would say the only person on there I've ever really insulted is Alice Evans and I don't feel ashamed about that. And I never stalked or harassed her!' Meanwhile one person said the blog had been a place of solace for them during a very challenging time in their life. 'I joined in 2018 when it first opened and I'm staying. I had a lot of support from tattlers when I had my cancer diagnosis. Not everyone who posts on there are horrible people. I also enjoy reading posts about true crime etc. Have I done or said anything bad? No and I can happily stand in a court of law and say so because saying someone looks like a sack of potatoes in a dress they got from shein isn't illegal'. Someone else said they were 'concerned' about their identity being 'outed', adding: 'In hindsight I just wish I'd never been on the site at all. I wish I could wipe any record of it and forget about it. I'm keeping my account for now in case the option to delete old posts becomes available. I've taken some steps to unlink myself from that account or from anything identifying that I may have posted on there in the past, and I have no online presence in my real name or anything that would assist in finding me if someone was trying to track me down…not sure what else I can do at this point'. It appears past and present 'tattlers' are attempting to seek out others who have partaken in the madness, while others have stated they are 'ashamed' and 'sick' over their contribution to the forum. Meanwhile some suspected trolls have asked if they need to 'worry' about being 'outed' Elsewhere, one Reddit user sought help on how to delete 'older' and 'locked' Tattle Life posts, while another person dedicated an entire thread to providing tips on 'posting safely' on Tattle Life. The person advised fellow users not to use their name, date of birth or 'anything personal in your sign up email address'. 'In your account privacy settings, under "Allow users to view your profile", change it to Nobody so no one can see where you've recently been on the site and they can't track your actions' they added. The person also warned Tattle Life users to log out of X - formerly Twitter - before taking screenshots 'so nothing identifying will be in shot'. 'When posting personal anecdotes, switch around some of the details and throw in a few falsehoods so it's not identifying' they concluded. The Tattle Life scandal erupted to epic proportions at the close of a two-year legal battle brought on by Northern Ireland couple Neil and Donna Sands back in 2023. The business owners sued Bond for damages for defamation and harassment after hearing they were the target of a 45-page thread and walked away with a £300,000 payout. Neil and Donna Sands are the first to fight back against the site and win. Donna, who runs fashion label Sylkie along with other brands, and Neil, an AI founder, said they found a 45-page thread about them and reached out to the site operators in 2021 asking them to take down the commentary 'or face legal action'. In 2023, they initiated the process. Neil and Donna got £150,000 each in damages, and the Court granted an injunctive relief to prevent Tattle Life from posting about the couple again. It was also ordered that the Sands' legal costs be paid, with 'further costs and third-party compliance expenses' amounting to £1.8 million. The thread about them was removed in May this year, but thousands and thousands of others remain. One content creator, who had made a modest £500 from her social media account. told Cosmopolitan how her home address was shared on the site while she was pregnant. 'I had such paranoia that someone was going to break in and kill me, and my unborn baby, that I was signed off work for a week' she said. For nearly a decade, since the site was set up in 2017, no one knew who ran Tattle Life, with the site's operator, British 'business owner' Sebastian Bond, 41, going under the fake name Helen McDougal as well as alias Bastian Durward. Many will be now surprised to learn the creator is in fact a man, who is the author and foodie behind plant-based recipe Instagram page Nest and Glow, which boasts 135,000 followers. It's likely that deeply popular Tattle Life racked up a decent amount of money for Bond. As reported by The Guardian in 2021, the blog had 43.2 million visits in just six months of that year. The figures are still in the millions this year. In May, as per Similarweb, there were 11.5 million visits on the site, mostly from British users. It is also understood that Sebastian uses different names online - one of them being Bastian Durward - and owns a number of businesses across the world. Two of them, Mr Justice Colton confirmed, include UK-registered Yuzu Zest Limited and Hong Kong-registered Kumquat Tree Limited. According to Companies House information, the former is currently in liquidation but alleged to offer 'media representation services'. An initial glimpse at Nest and Glow won't rouse suspicions that its founder is running a social media platform that has become known for its 'cruel' remarks. Aesthetic photos of mango chia seed pots and sweet potato snacks dominate the feed, along with instructions for recipes. An Amazon author page for his cookbook - being flogged for £20 online - claims that 'Bastian' has a 'passion for sharing healthy recipes to inspire everyone to eat natural food full of nutrients and vitamins'. 'I've been vegan for over 30 years and on a nutrient-dense plant-based healthy diet for 15 of those' he added. 'In 2015 I decided to leave my office job in order to follow my passions. This resulted in setting up the site Nest and Glow where I share healthy recipes and other natural lifestyle content'. Tattle Life states on its site that it has a 'zero-tolerance policy to any content that is abusive, hateful, harmful and a team of moderators online 24/7 to remove any content that breaks our strict rules - often in minutes'. However, it adds that 'influencer marketing is insidious' and 'revolves around people that occupy the space between celebrity and friend to stealthy sell when in reality it's a parasocial relationship. 'It's an important part of a healthy, free and fair society for members of the public to have an opinion on those in a position of power and influence; that is why tattle exists. 'We allow people to express their views on businesses away from an influencers feed on a site where they would have to go out of their way to read, this is not trolling'. A surprising amount of charged criticism has circulated on message boards, hitting out at various famous people. In one instance, Alice Evans - a Hollywood actress who split from husband Ioan Gruffudd - took to social media in the initial aftermath of their separation, during which time she discovered he was having an affair and documented her anguish. 'She is full of s***. It's kinda sad she felt she has to make this stuff up for attention and likes,' one tattler slammed. Another stated: 'She was controlling him. A good mother would simply not be using her children to get back at her ex whether he cheated on her or not'. Elsewhere, Katie Price was labelled a 'drugged up p*** artist'. Countless celebrities have been subject to vitriol at the hands of vicious comment threads - but those with smaller online presences are also at risk. Number one on the hit list at one point was Mrs Hinch, who has made a fortune from posting cleaning videos on Instagram. Tens of thousands of comments raged that she and her husband are a 'deluded pair of t***s'. Stacey Solomon, an avid Instagrammer who posts regular updates on her home renovations, marriage and children was also torn apart for her 'filthy kids, scruffy hair, outfits from Build A Bear'. One tribe seems to draw particular malice: so-called mumfluencers, Instagram influencers who make their trade in sharing the exploits of themselves and their children online. In 2023, former mummy blogger Clemmie Hooper was handed a caution order for a period of one-year following a midwifery misconduct hearing - four years after she engaged in trolling other influencers on a gossip forum. The mother-of-four from Kent, once boasted 700,000 followers on Instagram and had partnered with brands such as Mothercare and Boden on sponsored posts. But in 2019, Clemmie - who worked part-time as a midwife - came off social media after her account on Tattle Life, a website devoted to discussing influencers, was exposed. Among the posts made under the Alice in Wanderlust psuedonym, was one accusing Black mummy blogger Candice Brathwaite of social climbing, being 'aggressive' and using her 'race as a weapon'. Just two months before, Clemmie had invited Candice onto her podcast to discuss her traumatic birth experience and how she developed life-threatening sepsis following an emergency C-section. Following the Fitness To Practise Committee Substantive Hearing with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which started on February 28 of that year, the panel's decision was announced on March 7. Earlier in the hearing, Clemmie had admitted to three of the charges facing her - that she made the comments in question, and that they had been intended to 'undermine or humiliate' their target. She also accepted that elements of the posts were 'racially offensive and/or discriminatory', but maintains that she was unaware of this offence at the time. The panel took into account some mitigating factors, including Clemmie's health at the time of making the posts, which was said to have clouded her objectivity. It also considered positive testimonials with regards to her midwifery practice, her public apology, her reflection and insight into her conduct, and her 'evident remorse', as well as how she had been affected by reading a very large volume of negative comments about herself online. Her self-removal from social media, and what the panel considered to be her negligible risk of repetition, were also considered mitigating factors. In addition, the panel said it accepts that Clemmie was unaware that describing a Black woman as aggressive was a racial trope when writing the posts, and that she has since engaged in self-directed training and reading around equality and diversity. Speaking to Grazia in 2021, Candice Brathwaite, said it had been 'painful' reading the posts on Tattle. Smaller creators are too under scrutiny, with many TikTokers hit out as everything from a 'lying unfit excuse of a mother' to a 'disgusting vapid selfish woman who's [sic] opinion of herself is overinflated, much like her daughter's stomach'. It was recently revealed that Tattle Life hails from a very comfortable background in the West Country, MailOnline can reveal. Vegan influencer Sebastian Bond's retired parents, former company director Henry Bond, 76, and his wife Sheila, 75, live in a £500,000 detached four-bedroomed house in Glastonbury, Somerset with no mortgage, official records show. Their plush home was used in documents when their son set up one of his companies, Kumquat Tree Limited, in February 2024. The polite gentility of the middle-class street where the Bonds live is in stark contrast to the often toxic content of their son's website, which is supposedly aimed at exposing disingenuous influencers.
Irish Times
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Irish influencers trolled on Tattle life: ‘They said I'm a bad mum. That I'm ugly. They wrote my address on it'
Earlier this week, Co Antrim entrepreneurs Neil and Donna Sands were awarded £300,000 (€352,000) in libel damages following a defamation and harassment lawsuit over abusive comments posted on gossip website Tattle Life. Tattle Life describes itself as a platform for 'commentary and critiques of people that choose to monetise their personal life as a business and release it into the public domain'. Users post messages and discuss influencers and others with an online profile, many of whom complain they are being trolled. A number of Irish influencers have been the subject of negative 'threads' on Tattle Life. The judge in the case, heard in Belfast , said it had been set up to deliberately inflict hurt and harm on others by allowing the anonymous trashing of people's reputations. The site was revealed on Friday, June 13th, as being operated by UK national Sebastian Bond. Julie Haynes' Instagram account Twins and Me has 218,000 followers. She first became aware of Tattle Life when one of her own online followers sent her a link to a comment posted about her on the site, she says. READ MORE 'I was sent a screenshot and then I went on and I was scrolling through the threads, and I was like, what the hell? ... They were saying stuff like I take drugs.' None of it was true, she says. 'Writing stuff like that is absolutely horrific,' Haynes says, but it didn't stop there. Haynes' father died during Covid. 'We had five people at the funeral. Me, my mam, my brother and my twins. And we had a camera set up in the church because we were allowed to do that at the time, and you just basically livestreamed it and family and friends at home were able to tune in. The link then was put up on Tattle Life and every single one of my trolls tuned in.' Her young son needed to go to the toilet during the funeral, and so she brought him. Comments followed that she had 'walked out of the church' and that the funeral was like 'an episode of EastEnders'. 'Every single move I made' was commented on, Haynes says. 'She's drunk, that's why she's run out of the church. She had to go get sick.' Julie Haynes and her children Erin Rose and Fionn Haynes says she has seen comments stating that she's 'a bad mum. That I'm ugly'. Her mother had breast cancer two years ago and had a mastectomy. Haynes shared her mother's experience with her followers, but because her mother's recovery was deemed quick by some she was accused of making the story up 'for content'. 'They wrote my address on it, saying that 'I'd love to go down Julie's house in X and kick ... her. They write about my children all the time. What they call my kids is absolutely horrific, they screenshot them. I'm so, so upset.' [ Women in Ireland increasingly subjected to online hate and misogyny, groups warn Opens in new window ] Haynes says she has considered taking her children offline. 'No one should be calling these children those names,' she says. Her social media presence is an income source. 'Only for my social media, I'd have nothing,' she says. 'I'm a single mum … I do all this for my kids. And the only way I can go for [a] mortgage is by working. To earn a couple of bob I do my social media but these trolls, then, are trying to ruin it.' For brands looking to work with influencers, 'the first thing you do is check Google and the first thing that pops up when you put in my name is all these Tattle threads'. Louise Cooney has 250,000 followers on Instagram. She became aware of Tattle Life around the time of the Covid pandemic. 'It has completely changed my life for the last five years. It's something I've never spoken about. It's incredibly traumatising and hurtful. Some of the things that have been said and written, and not having control over your digital footprint in that way, is really upsetting,' says Cooney. Louise Cooney: 'It's like a free-for-all because no one has put in rules' 'It's made me less trusting of people,' she says. 'It makes me second-guess people's intentions. And it makes me question everything that I do, how I share.' She says it's good to be cautious about sharing. Cooney stays away from the site as much as possible. She says she doesn't want the upset and stress it causes her to have an impact on her toddler son. 'Once or twice I've had a weak moment ... All it does is upset me. Why do I look? But then, if you know it's there and other people can read it, sometimes curiosity can get the better of you,' she says. 'We grew up in a generation ... we're the first ones doing this, and it's like a free-for-all because no one has put in rules.' Cooney says some people who believe that comment posted on the internet is anonymous and that they can't be traced perhaps don't realise that 'technology is advancing all the time. And of course it can be traced.' The experience has had an effect on her mental health: 'I definitely experience anxiety because of it.' Sisters Sue Jordan and Corrina Stone have, combined, almost 66,000 followers on Instagram and run the Mums on the Run group on Facebook. Sue Jordan and Corrina Stone Jordan first became aware of Tattle Life a few years ago when someone sent her a link to a thread, after she had been on the Elaine show with presenter Elaine Crowley on Virgin Media. Jordan had kept her job, working in frontline homeless services, very separate from her online presence, never speaking about her work due to its sensitive nature, she says. 'So to have people go on there and say this is what I do, keep an eye out for me, it put me in danger … I never shared that information ever. How dare anybody do that? But then it evolved into calling me an alcoholic. No such thing, never was. This is stuff that could actually affect my real-life job.' She describes what happens on Tattle Life as 'systemic harassment and abuse'. Tattle Life has had a 'massive' impact on Stone. She says there have been posts saying her children have a 'horrendous upbringing' and that they 'hate' her. 'They tried to savage my kids, my older kids, their dress sense, their fashion sense, their choices – everything,' Stone says. She says she has mostly stopped attending events. 'I think it's because I don't want to put myself out there any more to be slapped down every time. It's constantly in your head.' 'I've stopped going out generally. Other than school runs and groceries ... I've a tiny friend circle,' she says.
Irish Times
21-06-2025
- Irish Times
‘It's a matter of time before her husband is worn down by her': How the gossip website Tattle Life nearly broke me
Last week in Northern Ireland's High Court, Mr Justice Colton unmasked the owner of Tattle Life, a website which has become synonymous with online hatred, harassment and doxxing, as Sebastian Bond, also known as Bastian Durward. Bond, a vegan cooking influencer and author of the book Nest and Glow, had been taken to court by Neil and Donna Sands, a Northern Irish couple who were subject to defamation and harassment on the site. It awarded them £300,000 (€351,000) in libel damages, believed to be the largest defamation payout of its kind in Northern Ireland. Founded in 2018, Tattle Life describes itself as a 'commentary website on public business social media accounts'. For all intents and purposes, it's a gossip forum in the vein of Reddit, with threads on a variety of topics and individuals, which are posted and commented on by its users. But it's a lucrative one: it was making about £320,000 per year through online advertising. The official line of the website is that it serves to 'allow commentary and critiques of people that choose to monetise their personal life as a business and release it into the public domain', a version of 'if you're going to put yourself out there, you deserve whatever you get'. The fact that the website's founder put such a veil of secrecy around his own identity feels both ironic and exactly what you'd expect. Posters share to the site anonymously – much like Bond himself, who used the pseudonym Helen McDougal to post on the site – expressing grievances they maintain they can't otherwise. READ MORE But the reality of it is darker. As someone who's been the subject of several threads on Tattle – some positive, in the 'rave about' section, but more negative – I've seen first hand the relentless hatred the site facilitates, which is aimed, by and large, at female influencers. Given that women outnumber men in the influencer marketing industry, this is perhaps unsurprising, but even the more prolific male influencers don't inspire the same feverish vitriol as their female counterparts. [ Rosemary Mac Cabe: My 'menmoir' was a necessary exorcism of the ghosts in my head Opens in new window ] Though I was, for a time, a journalist, TV and radio personality and social influencer, since 2020 or thereabouts, I've written a reader-supported newsletter on Substack, co-presented a podcast with my sister, and posted inconsistently on Instagram, sharing my life in Indiana, where I moved to in March 2020. I've had an online presence for almost half of my life, and I've been the subject of criticism on the internet for just as long – but it was never quite as nasty as it has been since the dawn of Tattle. Though a disclaimer on the home page states it has 'a zero-tolerance policy to any content that is abusive, hateful or harmful', Tattle has been the site of some of the most personal attacks I've seen. I've seen comments about me such as: 'She's next level pathetic, adds no value to society, yet her entitlement knows no bounds'; 'it's only a matter of time before her husband is worn down by her relentless negativity. She really doesn't contribute anything of note to the family unit'; and 'She has to be the laziest person alive'. And this is tame by comparison to what I've seen on others' threads. There is no common link between posts. These people are not dedicated, for example, to exposing influencers who don't declare their sponsored content; or to catching out Instagram stars who are lying about what shampoo they use, or which mattress they sleep on. This is not about keeping the internet honest, although that is the lie a lot of them will tell, when pressed. Instead, the link is one of a kind of insidious, creeping misogyny; never are the users of Tattle Life more incensed than when a woman they follow seems to 'fail', somehow, in her role as a woman. They deride women for hiring cleaners. They are aghast at women whose husbands cook dinner ('what does she even do all day?!'). They are at their most vitriolic when they perceive a woman to be criticising her children or, worse, admonishing them in a tone any more severe than a Mary Poppins sing-song. Threats of calling child protective services are not uncommon. There's something bizarre about all of it; by and large, the most common influencer genres are fashion, beauty, wellness and fitness. The achievement of traditional femininity, both aesthetically and in lifestyle terms (marriage, children and the keeping of a tidy home), is never more rewarded than on Instagram and TikTok. But step one perfectly pedicured foot out of place and there is a legion of critics ready to tear you apart. It's easy to see what these people get out of it – Tattle provides a place to vent their frustration and irritation with, and even hatred of, influencers who, in their minds, don't deserve their success or good fortune. But figuring out what they want, beyond finding a sense of camaraderie with other disgruntled social media users, is more complex, and perhaps more importantly, futile. This week's news has been remarkably clarifying: here is yet another man profiting from a culture that pits woman against woman Neil and Donna Sands found legal recourse for their defamation at the hands of Tattle's users – and in the arduous and costly process brought to light the man behind the site who has profited from the thinly veiled misogyny directed at women with a public platform. Their victory has given hope to the many influencers who would like to see Tattle's anonymous users unveiled in the same way. But you'd have to wonder: to what end? Do we really need to know the names of these posters in order to know what kind of people they are? For me, this week's news has been remarkably clarifying: here is yet another man profiting from a culture that pits woman against woman, encouraging them to belittle and criticise one another. Instead of seeking to unmask these anonymous posters, perhaps it's time we directed our focus elsewhere. Tattle Life nearly broke me. I've tried to examine why, exactly, I've given anonymous strangers such power – the power to upset me, sure, but also, at times, the power to censor me, to humiliate me, to cause me to second-guess my every online move. In part, I think it's because a lot of their criticisms – about my work ethic or my body or my relationship – are things I've felt about myself, one time or another. But another aspect of it is that I just want everyone to like me. Discovering the identities of these people won't change that.
BreakingNews.ie
20-06-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Explained: What is Tattle Life? Why was the operator's identity revealed?
Website Tattle Life has been making headlines lately due to a high-profile court case in the North of Ireland. But what is the website? Why is it in the news? And why was the identity of the suspected operator revealed? Advertisement What is Tattle Life? Tattle Life is a gossip forum on which threads are started relating to a specific person. The threads often involve a public figure or celebrity, but also well-known community leaders. The website provides a platform for anonymous accounts to share their opinions on the person. Why is it in the news? Recently, there was a landmark legal victory secured against operator of Tattle Life. Advertisement Last week, the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland granted an application by an Irish couple to lift reporting restrictions and name the defendants in their successful defamation and harassment case against the suspected operator of Tattle Life, Sebastian Bond, after a two-year legal battle. The ruling was made in favour of Neil and Donna Sands who successfully claimed they had been subject to a campaign of harassment, invasion of privacy, defamation, and breach of data rights on the Tattle Life website, which attracts up to 12 million visitors monthly, mostly in the UK. Businesspeople Neil and Donna Sands were originally awarded £300,000 (€350,000) damages against the operators of Tattle Life in late 2023. On the website, Mr Justice McAlinden said: 'This is peddling untruths for profit. A site built to monetise people's misery." Advertisement Sebastian Bond After the ruling, the owners of Tattle Life can now legally be identified as UK national Sebastian Bond, who also uses the alias Bastian Durward, along with Yuzu Zest Limited (a UK registered company) and Kumquat Tree Limited (registered in Hong Kong). Sebastian Bond is known on the internet as a vegan cooking influencer and author of the book 'Nest and Glow'. The Nest and Glow Instagram account has 135,ooo followers. Neil and Donna Sands said they were motivated to undertake the action not just on their own behalf but for all those impacted by the site over the years. In making his award, Mr Justice McAlinden noted: 'A day of reckoning will come for those behind Tattle Life and for those individuals who posted on Tattle Life. Advertisement 'To hasten that day of reckoning, it is appropriate that the court makes an award of damages to each plaintiff in this case. 'It would be remiss of the court to award costs on any other basis than indemnity. And on the defendant's business model, he said: 'This is clearly a case of peddling untruths for profit. 'It is the exercise of extreme cynicism — the calculated exercise of extreme cynicism — which in reality constitutes behaviour solely aimed at making profit out of people's misery. Advertisement 'People facilitating this are making money out of it… protecting their income streams by protecting the identity of the individual posters.' Why did Neil and Donna Sands take it to court? Neil Sands first wrote to the website's operators in February 2021, asking them to remove the defamatory thread or face legal action. They then formally initiated proceedings in June 2023. The couple was subject to defamatory and harassing commentary over a 45-page thread that was only finally removed in May 2025. In December 2023, the High Court in the North granted the £300,000 damages award and ordered that legal costs be paid on an indemnity basis, with further costs and third-party compliance expenses raising the total to be injuncted to £1.8 million. The 'cessation' figure - the amount payable by the defendants to lift the freezing orders - now stands at £1,077,173.00. This is understood to be the largest damages award for defamation in Northern Ireland's legal history and includes extensive freezing orders against the identified defendants and their corporate interests, now subject to continuing enforcement and disclosure proceedings. Neil Sands said: 'We undertook this case not just for ourselves but for the many people who have suffered serious personal and professional harm through anonymous online attacks on this and other websites. 'We believe in free speech, but not consequence-free speech - particularly where it is intended to, and succeeds in, causing real-world damage to people's lives, livelihoods and mental health. "We were in the fortunate position to be able to take the fight to these faceless operators, and it took a lot of time, effort and expense. "Along the way we heard many stories from those damaged by the scurrilous commentary on the website and we are glad to be finally able to shine a light into this dark corner of the internet. What we have established today is that the internet is not an anonymous place."
