I'm scared of 'getting Yassmin-ed'. You know what that means, right? To get Yassmin-ed.

Most people of colour working in Australian media understand that term. And almost all of us know it's only a matter of time before it happens to us.

Getting Yassmin-ed is that visceral experience of discovering that access to free speech is not equally divided amongst all Australians, and the consequences of transgression are more severe for some than others.

If you still don't know what it means, here's some context.

On Anzac Day two years ago, a young Sudanese-Australian mechanical engineer, broadcaster and writer, Yassmin Abdel-Magied, put up a seven-word Facebook post: "LEST. WE. FORGET. Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine."

And — despite the fact that she amended the words and quickly apologised — Australia lost its collective mind.

Newspapers ran headlines like "ABC host's ultimate insult to Anzac legend" and Seven News ran an online poll: should she leave or "stay and face her critics"?

There were angry calls for her to be stripped of her job, her hijab, her citizenship, her dignity. Her life was threatened, by online trolls and even by media personalities.

Radio commentator Prue MacSween declared that Ms Abdel-Magied — whom she called "this flea" — was justified in feeling "unsafe in her own country ... because if I'd seen her, I would have been tempted to run her over".

Ms Abdel-Magied was hounded out of the country.

Sami Shah says the fear of getting Yassmin-ed is unique to non-white Australians. ( ABC News )

I'm not going to get into the debate about whether the post was right or wrong, but I will tell you that the size of the reaction shocked me; it didn't match the scale of the infraction.

A few months later, a comedian of non-white complexion called me up for advice about an interview.

"What should I be careful about?" they asked. "I don't want to get Yassmin-ed."

Then another performer also of colour asked me the same thing. She was scared to go for a radio interview, in case she got Yassmin-ed.

'Standing alone against a very big platform'

It became, and remains still, a fear unique to non-white Australians.

"She had to move out of the country for saying something that white people have said so many times but she was hounded out of the country," lawyer and commentator Nyadol Nyuon told me.

"And then they [were] delighted. To me what actually felt really hurtful was they delighted in the aftermath of it.

"I am not actually afraid of the troll trolls. I am afraid of the legitimised trolls. Because when they come after you and they try and break you down publicly, it is so easy to break down.

"Majority of the time, particularly when you are a migrant, who just came to this country, you don't really have the long deep roots, you don't know people of influence who could back you up — you'll be standing alone against a very big platform."

And it isn't a new phenomenon.

Before it was called getting Yassmin-ed, it was called getting Adam Goodes-ed.

Remember that? Remember when an entire nation was threatened by an Indigenous player using an act of racism committed against him as a teachable moment? Or when he somehow skewered our sensitive dispositions with an imaginary spear?

While playing for the Sydney Swans Adam Goodes was booed by crowds week in and week out. ( Getty Images: Cameron Spencer, file )

These days it's called getting Yumi Stynes-ed, based on her harassment after an on-air disagreement with fellow broadcaster Kerri-Anne Kennerley over what constitutes racism.

Stynes said she was stalked by paparazzi outside her home and received death threats online, admitting it's made her think twice about speaking out in public.

Sorry, this video has expired Yumi Stynes and Kerri-Anne Kennerley clash on a Channel 10 talk show.

It's when a person of colour dares to transgress beyond the invisible lines of propriety that we don't know exist until we step over them.

And then it's too late.

First come the articles drawing attention to the indiscretion. Then the post-sunset television hosts begin their campaigns. Then social media turns into a veritable tsunami of violent threats and abuse.

Attackers always claim they're not racist

There are two things all of these attacks have in common.

They're always against people of colour. And the attackers always claim they're not being racist.

This is purely anecdotal but all the abuse I've received has, according to the abusers, never been racist.

Apparently calling me a "curry muncher", "Indian dog", and "terrorist" was inspired by rational discourse.

Even now, if you ask the people who abused Ms Abdel-Magied, booed Goodes, or threatened Stynes, they'll say they were motivated by righteousness, that the victims are sooks and snowflakes, and it's just not racism.

Even if we're to allow for the possibility that racism lies only in the eye of the beholder, and isn't something that non-white Australians are uniquely experienced at identifying with far greater accuracy than their white counterparts, it's the effect that all this abuse has that I find interesting.

People of colour, afraid of getting Yassmin-ed, censor themselves, shy away from public profiles, and avoid speaking out against ongoing racism or calling out abusive behaviour directed at them.

There's not an equal playing field

Ms Nyuon admitted that while people congratulate her for being so honest, she finds herself self-censoring a lot.

"What you see there is me toning it down by about 1,000 per cent," she says.

Melbourne lawyer Nyadol Nyuon says she tones herself down when speaking publicly. ( ABC News: Greg Nelson )

Shortly after speaking to me, Ms Nyuon announced on Twitter that she would be withdrawing from social media and publicly visible work; the racial abuse she suffers after every TV appearance on shows like ABC's The Drum has started taking a toll.

Author and journalist Benjamin Law has also been Yassmin-ed/Goodes-ed/Stynes-ed.

Benjamin Law says it is not an equal playing field. ( Supplied: Twitter )

An admittedly graphic Twitter joke of his became the stick with which the usual commentators beat him as well.

For him, the reason this keeps happening is obvious.

"There's not an equal platform, there's not an equal playing field," Law says.

"So, when people say everyone should be allowed to say whatever they want, we can't ignore the fact that when you are a minority, saying something the majority don't want, you will be punished in a disproportionate way."

I too, as a non-white radio host in Australia, think about what I'm about to say many times before it leaves my mouth, despite all evidence to the contrary.

And that's probably a good thing. It's definitely a consideration everyone should have.

Except, well, it feels like the consequences of saying the wrong thing are more extreme for some of us than others.

Being white gives a level of immunity

As a result, the country is deprived of points of view that might teach us all greater empathy for others — and thus decrease the chances of someone else getting Yassmin-ed.

It's interesting to me that many of the attackers style themselves as defenders of free speech.

Many of the politicians and pundits were, for example, eager to see a revision of Section 18C, describing it as censorship.

Even now, I can hear some of you roaring, "stop being such a snowflake!" and "it's my free speech!"

These are the same reactions I've gotten since my documentary series on free speech in Australia debuted.

One listener told me: "It's not about race, stop being such a professional victim."

Another said: "Yassmin is a gloating self-promoter who deserves what she gets when she finally gets it."

Yet another said: "Can you imagine an Anglo going on Pakistan radio and insulting the intelligence of the population as you do with your rubbish?" They told me I had no place in 'their' country, adding: "Ugly little brown goblin. Low caste rubbish."

My favourite has been: "Being a person of colour does not make you immune from criticism when you say stupid or inflammatory shit."

Which is technically quite true, and I definitely agree with it.

It's just that there's a level of immunity being white does offer you which we'd all like access to; that's all.

Some, it would seem, would rather fight for their right to enjoy and express racism, than someone else's need to be protected from it.

All I can offer to those people is my congratulations on never having to live with the fear of getting Yassmin-ed.

Maybe one day, we can all enjoy that luxury.

In the meantime, I'm going to pray it doesn't eventually become called, getting Sami Shah-ed.