From the readings and from your experience, what exactly is trolling? How does this behavior manifest itself and what are its causes and effects?
According to Wikipedia, an Internet Troll is “a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion, often for their own amusement.” In other words, an internet troll is an unsavory person who is given licence to communicate his or her basest ideas that society has otherwise deemed unacceptable, due to the anonymity of the internet.
In terms of how this behavior manifests I think the quote from the theatlantic.com article The Imminent Death of the Internet Troll attributed to Margaret Atwood “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” Men tend to make threats that are threatening to women such as online harassment and threats, whereas women tend to make more biting comments about personalities and content. The cause of this behavior is quite simple – in response to the rise of the PC (politically correct) movement that has hugely increased what is and what is not socially acceptable, people have identified the internet as an outlet to voice their now unacceptable views and behavior due to its anonymity. This is the reason that the comment sections of most articles and videos are filled with the vitriol and hatred that many of us wished we would have gotten past by now. The effects of internet trolling is the creation of a very divided online experience. There is a tacit understanding that if you are willing to share your thoughts through any format be it an article, a blog or a video, you must be thick skinned and willing to accept the most vicious criticism, for it is coming. I am fully ready and prepared to be skewered in the comment section on this blog post, and in fact I look forward to it.
What ethical or moral obligations do technology companies have in regards to preventing or suppressing online harassment (such as trolling or stalking)?
Companies definitely have a moral and ethical obligation to do their best to suppress and remove elements that harass people online. However, I feel this definitely comes with a caveat, for putting in place rules to regulate speech always have unseen and unwanted consequences. The importance of stopping online harassment must be balanced with the equally important interest in not suppressing ideas. I therefore believe that very rigid and narrow boundaries must be set for what qualifies as online harassment. In my opinion, simple criticism, and name calling cannot and should not be grounds for dismissal from the online service. Lumping in criticism with online harassment leads to a slippery slope, and inevitably leads to suppressing of ideas that the majority of people find distasteful or disagreeable. This is very harmful in a free society. However, this does not mean that all speech should be tolerated. In my mind, the line should be drawn at explicit death threats or threats of severe violence, as is mandated by the Supreme Court decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969). In this landmark ruling the Court found that any speech that promotes “imminent lawless action” is not protected by the First Amendment. I think the same standard should be applied to online forums.
Is anonymity on the Internet a blessing or a curse? Are “real name” policies useful or harmful in combating online abuse?
I feel that anonymity on the Internet is neither a blessing or a curse – it is a necessary evil. While I do agree that “real name” policies will be effective initially in combating online abuse, it will eventually promote a different and in my opinion more harmful type of online abuse – the censoring of users with unpopular opinions. This may seem like a heartless attitude towards speech, but I truly believe that the right of a potential commenter on this piece to criticize my views and opinions, no matter how viciously or distastefully they choose to do so, are more important than my right not to get my feelings hurt. In a free society, it is important to give everyone a voice, especially to those you disagree with.
Is trolling a major problem on the Internet? What is your approach to handling trolls? Are you a troll?!?!?
Trolling is undoubtedly a problem. Ideally the Internet and indeed the world would be a perfectly welcoming place filled with nice people who never have feelings of ill will towards one another. However, this is not the reality that we must live with. It is a fact of life that there are racist, homophobic, misogynistic and bigoted people in the world. However, flagging and disposing of a user who is accused of being any or all of these things creates a worse situation – an Orwellian space where an unseen authority determines which thought or belief is allowed or not. This is truly scary, and antithetical to the ideals any liberal democracy such as ours is founded upon.
My approach to handling trolls is simply to either ignore them, or if I find their points of view interesting enough to respond to them. If someone truly writes something blatantly offensive or insensitive, I do not give them the importance they seek by taking them seriously. I brush them off and go on with my day.
I certainly do not think I am a troll, because I largely refrain from commenting on any online media unless I feel I have something constructive to say. However, I don’t feel like this is a question I can answer, only my fellow internet users can. So I guess in answer to the question, I hope not.
I would like to conclude this piece by sharing a video of one of my favorite shows South Park, that I feel is very relevant to this discussion. In this episode, the school creates a social media filter that doesn’t allow any negative comments about any of their users to be posted on their profile. All the children can see is the positive comments people have for them, leading to this very funny but thought provoking song:
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