Trolling Along

troll: One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument 

This is a bit of ramble but hey ho...

Don't feed the trolls. Those of us who have been online for a fairly long time cannot have failed to have encountered that oft chanted mantra on a forum or, dare I out my age, newsgroup. It has served us well for all these years.

Trolls, like dirty old men and fangirls, are an internet hazard. They've been a part of the internet ever since it entered it's "modern era" in the late 90s, and they are unlikely to go away. And part of me has become fond of them as part of the fabric of the internet along with other sub-groups such as the furries or the Youtubers.

Sadly there appears to be somewhat of a troll related moral panic occurring in this country and it is just growing worse and worse.

Who is and who isn't a troll has never really be clearly defined but, in forums at least, you knew one when you saw one. However now the word troll is used to refer to allsorts of people, interacting in allsorts of ways. Say something someone, especially a celebrity or "respected" individual, doesn't agree with, and you're a troll. Here's a classic example:

@davidallengreen @fleetstreetfox Good? So racism & threatening behaviour can be excused because free speech is bigger?

— James (@JamesReckons) August 1, 2012

@jamesreckons @fleetstreetfox Oh dear, are you still trolling.

— David Allen Green (@DavidAllenGreen) August 1, 2012

It's becoming a way to silence debate, stiffle criticism and belittle and insult those who you disagree with.

Take another example of this, not exactly troll related, but hidden among some obvious examples of nasty messages on Youtube, displayed in this catchy tune, one just doesn't quite seem right.



The message that most upset Steve Furst? "ur NOT funny and never will be". That might not be the politest message in the world but that is pretty clearly a reasonable opinion someone might have. No one is funny to everyone. Some people may not find Steve Furst funny (to be honest I've no idea who is but I'm sure he's a lovely and hilarious person even if this particular nitpick of his suggests an overly large ego). That isn't hate. It's not trolling. It's just an opinion!

And so we come to the Tom Daley fiasco. I can't stand rudeness, and what was said to Tom Daley was uncalled for, disgusting, thoughtless and unreasonable. The threats of death were, as you can imagine, without defense. And yet we reach the problem. Tom Daley retweeted the original nasty tweet and instantly Reece Messer came under attack from Daley fangirls and fanboys. He was, in turn, subject to the same sort of abuse he gave to Daley. Yet he was arrested, and those who abused him were not! And he'd done this sort of thing before but not until Tom Daley was involved did the authorities care. The police CANNOT police the internet. It is a complete impossibility.

In the days of forums, forum hosts banned persistent and unwanted "trolls". In the days of Twitter users get banned for abusing corporations but don't seem to have to worry if they abuse others (unless they are famous). If one has an open resource such as Twitter, which is so immense that it is near impossible to moderate, there must either be an acceptance of total freedom or it might as well close down. It's really that simple.

And the reeks of double standards on a whole different level as pointed out by fleetstreetfox.

I've become increasingly unhappy with how anti-discrimination and anti-social behaviour laws are being used to undermine free speech, free expression and to suppress debate from those deemed unworthy of having an opinion. If you can't handle seeing people for who they really are (from the epic and the kind-hearted to the mundane and the mean-spirited) writ large across your screen then perhaps you need to log off. Because the internet shows up our species for its best, it must show up it's worst as well. That is in its very nature.



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Government Internet Snooping - Please Let This Be An April Fools

It is being report today that the Government plans to introduce legislation to monitor emails, texts and internet surfing history. It feels like something New Labour would want, and in fact it's very similar to a law they unsuccessfully tried to introduce.

I've put up with tuition fees, the NHS bill, disability benefit cuts, even the lukewarm marriage equality consultation. But it would be immoral for me to remain in a party that, whilst in Government, allowed this sort of attack on our basic freedoms to go through. I'm fairly confident that our Lib Dem ministers in Government will vigorously oppose this snooping law. Well they better do so anyway.

Seriously, this Government has lost it's way. They were supposed to roll back New Labour's authoritarian legislation not create more!!

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Porn: The Great Litmus Test Of Freedom

Porn is controversial. It incites a great deal of discussion, from those concerned with protecting children and those protecting women, over it's morality. Governments seem desperate to control it, even in the face of it's widespread popularity. This controversy makes it a wonderful "litmus test" for whether a society is really free.

I've talked about it before in the context of wanting some answers over exploitation in pornography. Now we have Ed Vaizey, the communications minister, bringing it back into political debate after suggesting ISPs should force people to opt-in if they wish to view what the ISPs or the Government regard as porn.

Even if you buy into the idea that it's the Government's job to protect children from pornography in their own homes, I think this policy risks overreach (i.e. blocking sites that aren't pornographic especially regarding sexual health and LGBT issues) and would be nearly impossible to successfully implement. Kids don't "accidentally" wander onto porn sites, and those who want to find them will still find them even if most are blocked. So what does it achieve other than sending a signal to the country that the Government cares more about control and less about leaving people to live their lives the way they want?

A silly, nanny-state suggestion from a Government that was meant to know better.

Hands off our internet!

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Rage Against The Election

This election is the first election since the social media explosion. In 2005 Youtube was still in it's very earliest days, Twitter was a dream and Facebook was limited to American college campuses.

Now... Facebook is almost universal in Britain. I'm pretty sure my Nan will be on it by the end of the year. Twitter is "the in thing" still, despite near media Twitter saturation last year and Youtube probably has more hours watched per day by British people than most television channels.

This offers amazing opportunities for parties, activists and even, shock!, your "average" voter. But it also comes with some major dangers for everyone too.

The dark side of campaigning on Twitter is a great little article about the pitfalls of trying to spread your political message on Twitter. It's very easy to turn someone off in 140 letters, but not easy to convince. Even the most innocent of Tweets can come across as an attack or as defensive unintentionally and just in the last few days I've lost a few followers over Tweets I thought were just expressing my opinion.

But the real power isn't in convincing people who to vote for. Oh you can help, and the internet allows you to have instant contact and near unlimited resources to help educate people on your point of view. Friendly debates take on a whole new meaning when you are able to fact check on the fly. But really the power is in engaging people. People who feel unable to engage with your staid suit wearing politicians on the doorstep and who are uninspired by bland political advertising.

Take "We got Rage Against the Machine to #1, we can get the Lib Dems into office!". Here's a humourous Facebook group, set up ato emulate the success of the Rage Against The Machine getting to Christmas #1 campaign. It may be humourous, but I think it really does tap into something important... the complete and total disregard politicians have for young people. Why should they take an election seriously when they are the people who are out of work, paying tuition fees, facing disconnection thanks to the Digital Economy Bill, they are the "Great Ignored" as the politicians woo the grey vote. They are the people most likely to be continually searched by police and security guards wherever they go. They are the people who will have to pay, ultimately. So their "fuck it, let's have a laugh" attitude is actually a good sign. They are being engaged. They are being informed. They are making electoral decisions. And perhaps they might throw a spanner in the works of an already crazy election.

And other independent, and not so independent, campaigns are springing up to encourage people to take part this election. Invincecable launched with a Youtube video, Labservatives with a "real world" poster campaign, and MyGayVote allows a quick reference to previous Commons votes on GLBT issues. Even the Greens are getting in on the act: OnlyGreen.

All of this raises an interesting question: what affect will this have on the result? Will it be negligible? Or could it, especially in this tight of a contest, tip the balance one way or another?

Personally I think the ultimate power of the internet, for good or ill, in this election will be to focus a magnifying glass upon candidates history, and their social media interactions. Those who enter politics with things in the closet or think they can get away with unfounded smears are already discovering the power of the internet. That might have some downsides... but it'll help keep them honest!

I think, perhaps, the changes under way now might not affect this election too much. But the lessons learnt may shape the future of our political system and our very society in ways we cannot foresee.

If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist