Distinctions

This unit is about the anonymity granted by the Internet. Recently, we have been focusing on the presence of trolls on the Internet, as we have read in the articles. After our discussions this week, I believe that “trolls” is too broad of a category. There is a distinct difference between the definition of troll that we have been discussing in class and the so-called trolls that Lindy West faced. The definition we discussed in class is someone who likes to agitate people online and they are usually anonymous while the trolls West faced were verbally abusive and threatening. As we read in the article, this specific incident had a major impact on her because the person posed as someone who is very important to West. As much as she tried, she could not escape this person and wound up thinking about them very often. It put a strain on her mental health and also pushed her to consider switching careers to avoid this type of online abuse. I would classify that as harassment rather than trolling. Trolling is not punishable by law, but the abuse and threats that West faced under her harassment should be illegal. The line between trolling and harassment should be drawn when the person online starts to personally attack their victim. It would just be considered trolling if they were just attacking the subject, but not the person. Schools have been put on lockdown due to threats of a mass shooting posted on the Internet and the person behind it was arrested, so why shouldn't threats made towards a person lead to an arrest? If this harassment makes someone feel unsafe or scared to go about their daily routines there should be serious repercussions. There is a strict distinction between having fun online and threatening the well being of an individual. I do not think there is a way to stop trolling completely due to the large expanse of the Internet, but i think, by imposing protection laws, that there is a way to prevent simple trolling from becoming harassment.