Ten years ago a troll was something that lived under a bridge. Nowadays being a troll has no fantastical requirements. Essentially trolling is the act of posting or saying intentionally offensive and provocative comments online with the intent of upsetting or angering someone. Trolling manifests itself in many ways. Most often, I have often seen trolls lingering in the comments sections of Youtube videos, Twitter feeds, news articles, etc. In these cases, the trolling posts are more often looking for any reaction. However, sometimes trolls directly target an individual on some form of social media as seen in GamerGate (“‘That life is over’: Zoe Quinn looks beyond GamerGate”); they insult and degrade them extensively without mercy. All in all, wherever there is an opportunity to make inflammatory statements, there is sure to be a troll. It has become so common that I often scroll past their disturbing comments without blinking an eye.
The most sure cause of this trend of trolling is the anonymity of the internet. Hiding behind a meaningless username gives the troll a sense of security that no one can retaliate against their true identity. In turn, this assurance inflates them with an additional sense of invincibility and power; they can say whatever they want to whomever they want with no real consequence. The outraged reactions they get back are proof of their own power over internet ‘plebeians’ and are seen as quite humorous to the troll. Just as there is seemingly no repercussions for the poster, the troll does not see first-hand the aftermath of their actions. The negative effects of trolling are potentially muffled by the thousands of miles that the internet allows between poster and reader. Hurting another anonymous online account results in less guilt than insulting an actual human being face-to-face. The effects of online trolling range in severity. On one hand a troll might just incite an angry, passionate reply from another user that happened to be scrolling through the comments. But on the other hand, internet trolling might become a serious form of online harassment and even stalking. Constant belligerent messages posted to an individual’s personal account do not simply exist online; they invade a person’s sense of security and safety. For Zoe Quinn, the harassment brought on by GamerGate manifested as violent threats, leaked nude photos, comments urging her to commit suicide, and “online discussions about the best murder weapon to bring to her next public speaking event” (“‘That life is over’: Zoe Quinn looks beyond GamerGate”). Other cases of trolling, better defined as online bullying, have driven their victims into depression and even to suicide.
As the vehicles of such abuse, technology companies have a moral obligation to take preventative actions against online harassment and suppress trolling whenever possible. Twitter has recently made strides to help their users silence trolls by implementing an easier, native way to report and/or block abusive users (“A New Harassment Policy for Twitter”). However, some attempts to prevent online harassment such as “real name” polices do more harm then good. Internet anonymity is quick to be labeled a curse. After all, it protects trolls, allowing them to torment others without real consequence. However, anonymity is also a protector. It provides victims of online abuse a sliver of safety and it protects the free speech of advocates like “Vahid Online,” an Iranian activist (“Google Plus Finally Gives Up on Its Ineffective, Dangerous Real-Name Policy”). So while “real name” policies do deter a fraction of trolls, they also put into jeopardy the safety of online victims and activists.
Trolling is one of the foremost problems on the internet today. While their is no fool-proof solution, I believe the best approach is implementing a more effective way of reporting and removing abuse. Currently, most sites have very obscure reporting methods, if any. When a user is reported, there is a long wait before any action is taken and if the victim is even notified of the action taken. The prevention of trolling should be taken as a priority of every social media website.
Ethics in Computer Science 