LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 29: Actress Gina Rodriguez attends the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards which broadcasted live on NBC from The Shrine Auditorium on March 29, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for iHeartMedia) (2015 Getty Images)
“Jane the Virgin” actress Gina Rodriguez told Fox News Latino she will not tolerate vitriol on social media – and she is not afraid to call out the haters.
"It’s not a tool that anyone can use to cause pain,” she said. “It drives me crazy that people would decide to be hateful on social media.”
The Chicago-born actress said she can separate herself from the hate thrown in her direction, but that doesn’t mean it doesn't hurt her. And she said she won’t stay quiet when she’s attacked on social media.
“I am held accountable all the time for what I say, why shouldn’t everyone else?" Rodriguez asked.
Rodriguez got a taste of the uglier side of social media after she shared her People En Español cover on Instagram on Aug. 5 that she captioned in English and Spanish. Some of her more than 329,000 followers criticized her appearance – from her dress to her curled toes – and made fun of her mangled Spanish translation. They even questioned her “Latino-ness.”
Rodriguez, whose parents are Puerto Rican, is not fluent in Spanish but was trying to connect to her Latino fans. But she was stunned by their reaction.
"There was an interesting conversation that … was deeper rooted than just what I look like,” she told FNL. “It was an interracial Latino racism that was eye opening."
In her post calling out her cyberbullies, Rodriguez wrote that she would not be part of a world that allows social media to be used as a tool to spread hatred.
“You know what saddens my heart, is when you try and celebrate an accomplishment with those that have helped you achieve it and no matter what, someone, anyone, has something negative to say,” she wrote in her post. “When did we decide social media was for hating, for putting others down rather than lifting them up. I refuse to participate in that kind of world.”
Rodriguez then told fans to ask themselves if they would want others to say what they were about to post about themselves.
“(Ask yourself) what am I getting out of being mean to another person I have never met?” Rodriguez wrote. “I shared my joy for the cover of @peopleenespanol and I was blown away at the immediate hate projected on my page. My question to you today is this, do you know the power you have in the world and do you desire to use it for good? I do.”
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