CANDIDATES are being urged to pledge not to sledge as social media heats up in the lead-up to the election.
As part of the #Pledgenot2sledge campaign, candidates running for Queensland's local government elections are being urged to raise the bar and sign a pledge not to use social media to insult their opponents.
The campaign was run in the Redlands in 2018 with mayor Karen Williams calling for it to be embraced by candidates statewide to help stamp out bullying this election period.
"Bullying and vitriol on social media is out of control and having significant impacts on everyone from our children to our work colleagues and it has to stop," Cr Williams said.
"As community leaders it is incumbent on all politicians and political candidates to lead by example, but unfortunately that doesn't always occur.
"People are tired of reading social media sledging and bullying. They want their community leaders to set the bar higher and I am calling on anyone wanting to hold the position of councillor or mayor to do just that."
Cr Williams said recent media coverage had highlighted the need for more respectful debate on social media.
"I'm not asking everyone to agree, that won't happen, but we can disagree respectfully and let's focus on policy and platforms not personal attacks," Cr Williams said.
"Recently we have read about some truly heart-wrenching examples of how social media bullying has impacted young lives and enough is enough.
"The community expects more from their elected representatives."
Cr Williams said she had been in talks with service providers and community leaders about ways to ensure the #Pledgenot2sledge campaign got to where it is needed most.
"We have talked about taking it into schools to show kids why social media respect is important and working with counselling and support services," Cr Williams said.
"But I believe the first step is for adults - politicians in particular - to lead by example by not partaking in or condoning social media bullying amongst their peers.
"If they see it happening all they need to do is call it out by using the #Pledgenot2sledge hashtag, sometimes that's all it takes to break the cycle and show people that what they're doing is not okay.
"Ultimately it will be up to each candidate to do the right thing and rise above the social media slander, but equally it will be up to the voters to send a message to those who didn't."
