What is an internet troll? [View all]

[Starry Messenger]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jun/12/what-is-an-internet-troll

'm sitting waiting for the House of Commons to start debating a Law Against Trolls or, as they would call it, an amendment to the Defamation Act. It would basically let internet providers off the hook for the publication of their content, so long as they signed up to divulge the identity of any of their users. To warrant such a disclosure, the injured party would have to show that their reputation had been significantly damaged; then they would be given the offender's identity, and would be free to pursue a civil case. Online abuse still won't be a criminal offence, even if the bill is passed. It has wide support in parliament, so is not intended to be a very heated debate: I want to watch it to see how many MPs actually know what a troll is.

The term is widely misused: Frank Zimmerman, who received a suspended sentence for asking Louise Mensch which of her children she wished to remain alive, is not a troll, he is a hater (the death threats take him beyond the realm of ordinary hater into criminal hater; but that's his category nonetheless). You can hear haters described in song by Isabel Fay, but they're not the same as trolls, even while many people (Fay included) use the terms interchangeably (I'm not being a hater when I say that, by the way; I'm being a pedant). Trolls aren't necessarily any more pleasant than haters, but their agenda is different – they don't just want to insult a particular person, they want to start a fight – hopefully one that has a broader application, and brings in more people than just the object of their original trolling. The term derives from a fishing technique – say your stupid thing, watch the world bite.

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Racist trolling probably has the highest profile cases – most recently, Liam Stacey was jailed for 56 days after tweeting offensive messages including, "LOL" and, "Muamba, he's dead, hahahaha," when the footballer Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch during a match in April. It's generally very unusual for trolling to result in custody – and race is generally at the crux of it when it does. There is an astonishing seam of trolling that concerns violence against women (I was particularly struck recently by the person who said they wanted to fuck Josie Long in the eyes) but such abuse is generally without consequence.

Of course it's possible to troll at a much less violent level, simply by stalking through internet communities where people might be expected to think in a particular way, and saying things that will wind them up. If you would like to try this sort of trolling to see what the appeal is, I suggest you go on to the Comment is Free section of the Guardian's website and post something like, "People shouldn't have kids if they can't afford to pay for them. End of." Or: "men like skinny women, which is why you won't be able to find me a banker with a fat wife. WILL YOU?" Or: "Men like sex. Women like cuddles. GET OVER IT." Or: "Nobody even knows what's in a greenhouse gas. How can I take 'climate change' seriously when nobody knows anything about it?" Amusingly, I am getting quite wound up by these remarks, even though it was me who made them.

More, the internet troll in pictures: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gallery/2012/jun/12/drawings-of-internet-trolls