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#MeToo on Facebook Shows Weinstein Saga Isn't Just for Hollywood

#MeToo on Facebook Shows Weinstein Saga Isn't Just for Hollywood

(Bloomberg) -- Days after numerous allegations of sexual harassment were leveled at Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein, actress Alyssa Milano took to Twitter, inviting women to share if they’d ever been harassed, using the hashtag #MeToo.

It spread. Since she posted it Oct. 15, it’s been retweeted almost 23,600 times, with 65,000 responses from women (and men) on Twitter. Public figures from Silicon Valley to Capitol Hill have also expanded the debate across social media platforms Facebook and Instagram -- including Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg.

Hollywood stalwarts including “Ugly Betty” leading actress America Ferrera have shared their experiences. Prominent women in the U.S. government were also quick to reply, expanding the debate outside the movie industry as well as across the internet. Senator Elizabeth Warren was an early Facebook responder, and several Congresswomen also tweeted using the hashtag.

Even three days after Milano’s tweet, Facebook’s Instagram had at least 457,000 mentions. COO Sandberg was among the millions discussing #MeToo on Facebook, saying in a post that she’s proud to join so many people “kicking this elephant out of the room today.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Rita Devlin Marier in San Francisco at rdevlin5@bloomberg.net, Maria Jose Valero in New York at mvalero3@bloomberg.net, Janine Wolf in New York at jwolf71@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Clementine Fletcher at cfletcher5@bloomberg.net, Andrea Snyder