Editing Troll (slang) (section)

== Media coverage and controversy ==

{{Globalize|section|date=October 2015}}
Mainstream media outlets have focused their attention on the willingness of some Internet users to go to extreme lengths to participate in organized [[psychological harassment]].

=== Australia ===

In February 2010, the Australian government became involved after users defaced the Facebook tribute pages of murdered children Trinity Bates and Elliott Fletcher. Australian communications minister [[Stephen Conroy]] decried the attacks, committed mainly by 4chan users, as evidence of the need for greater Internet regulation, stating, "This argument that the Internet is some mystical creation that no laws should apply to, that is a recipe for anarchy and the wild west."<ref>[http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/1034842/internet-without-laws-a-recipe-for-anarchy "Internet without laws a 'recipe for anarchy'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100404062645/http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/1034842/internet-without-laws-a-recipe-for-anarchy |date=4 April 2010 }}, News.ninemsn.com.au, 1 April 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2010.</ref> Facebook responded by strongly urging administrators to be aware of ways to ban users and remove inappropriate content from Facebook pages.<ref>[http://www.tgdaily.com/software-features/49166-facebook-takes-small-step-against-tribute-page-trolls "Facebook takes (small) step against tribute page trolls"], TG Daily, 30 March 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2010.</ref> In 2012, the ''[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|Daily Telegraph]]'' started a campaign to take action against "Twitter trolls", who abuse and threaten users. Several high-profile Australians including [[Charlotte Dawson]], [[Robbie Farah]], [[Laura Dundovic]], and [[Ray Hadley]] have been victims of this phenomenon.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jones |first=Gemma |url=http://www.news.com.au/technology/time-is-up-for-twitter-trolls-and-bulllies/story-e6frfro0-1226472133504 |title=Time is up for Twitter trolls and bullies |work=News.com.au |date=11 September 2012 |access-date=15 September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/farah-subjected-to-vile-twitter-abuse/story-fndo48ca-1226468559816|title=Twitter trolls attack radio host Ray Hadley, NRL star Robbie Farah|newspaper=[[Herald Sun]]|access-date=15 September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/twitter-moves-on-trolls/story-fndo317g-1226474468650|title=Twitter makes moves to prevent online trolls|newspaper=[[Herald Sun]]|access-date=15 September 2012}}</ref>

=== India ===
According to journalist Swati Chaturvedi and others, the ruling [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) runs networks of social media trolls tasked with intimidating political opponents.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kazmin |first=Amy |date=February 20, 2017 |title='I Am a Troll' by Swati Chaturvedi |url=https://www.ft.com/content/6dd90462-e3bd-11e6-8405-9e5580d6e5fb |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=Financial Times}}</ref>

[[Hindi cinema|Bollywood]] celebrities can face strong social media backlash for their political comments.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Mitra |first=Sreya |date=2020-09-15 |title=Discourses of Hindi film fandom and the confluence of the popular, the public, and the political |url=https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/1775 |journal=Transformative Works and Cultures |language=en |volume=34 |doi=10.3983/twc.2020.1775 |s2cid=224909712 |issn=1941-2258|doi-access=free }}</ref> When actor [[Shah Rukh Khan]] criticized the country's intolerance and called for secularism, many promoted a boycott of his upcoming movie, including several right-wing politicians, one of whom compared Khan to a terrorist.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=2015-11-04 |title=Yogi Adityanath slams SRK, compares him with Hafiz Saeed |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Yogi-Adityanath-attacks-Shah-Rukh-Khan-compares-him-with-Hafiz-Saeed/article60270849.ece |access-date=2023-07-19 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> In 2015, when the [[Maharashtra]] state government banned the sale and consumption of cattle meat (reflecting Hindu beliefs), online trolls attacked stars who criticized the law; actor [[Rishi Kapoor]] received insults and had his Hindu faith questioned.<ref name=":4" /> Though the death sentence of convicted terrorist [[Yakub Memon]] was criticized by "many", including human rights activists and a former Supreme Court chief justice, Bollywood star [[Salman Khan]] received "overwhelming" online anger for expressing the same views; the trolling spilled over into real life, with some protestors burning his effigy.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=2015-07-26 |title=Salman defends Yakub, says hang Tiger Memon |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/salman-defends-yakub-says-hang-tiger-memon/article7466723.ece |access-date=2023-07-19 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mathew |first=Suresh |date=2015-07-27 |title=Why Exactly Are We Outraged By Salman Khan's Tweets on Memon? |url=https://www.thequint.com/entertainment/why-exactly-are-we-outraged-by-salman-khans-tweets-on-memon |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=TheQuint |language=en}}</ref>

Newslaundry covered the phenomenon of "Twitter trolling" in its "Criticles",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newslaundry.com/2013/02/18/taking-on-the-trolls/|title=Taking On The Trolls|author=Ashoka Prasad|work=Newslaundry|date=18 February 2013 }}</ref> also characterizing Twitter trolls in its weekly podcasts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newslaundry.com/2015/07/17/nl-hafta-episode-24/|title=NL Hafta – Episode 24|date=17 July 2015|work=Newslaundry}}</ref>

The troll community of [[Kerala]] has birthed some troll slang in [[Malayalam]] due to the use of such new words in trolling events that have become viral; some examples are ''Kummanadi'' ("using public transportation without a ticket"), ''OMKV'' ("GTFO"), and ''kiduve'' or ''kidu'' ("cool"; "awesome").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2017/dec/01/whats-my-name-kochi-metro-mascot-asks-public-malayalees-call-it-kummanana-1715605.html |title=What's my name, Kochi Metro Mascot asks public; Malayalees call it 'Kummanana' |publisher=The New Indian Express |date=2017-12-01 |access-date=2023-12-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.akshharam.com/blog-detail/malayalam-slang-words-every-indian-must-know | title=Malayalam Slang Words Every Indian Must Know }}</ref>

===Japan===
{{see also|Internet in Japan#Use and effects of the Internet in Japan}}
In July 2022, Japanese law banned "online insults", punishable by up to one year of imprisonment. Under this law, an "insult" ({{ill|侮辱罪|ja}}) is defined as "publicly demeaning someone's social standing without referring to specific facts about them or a specific action."<ref>{{Cite web |author=Jessie Yeung, Emiko Jozuka and Kathleen Benoza |title=Japan makes 'online insults' punishable by one year in prison |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/14/asia/japan-cyberbullying-law-intl-hnk-scli/index.html |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=CNN|date=14 June 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Japan to start jailing people for online insults |url=https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/6/23196593/japan-jail-online-insult-cyberbullying |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=The Verge |date=6 July 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== United Kingdom ===

In the United Kingdom, contributions made to the Internet are covered by the [[Malicious Communications Act 1988]] as well as Section 127 of the [[Communications Act 2003]], under which jail sentences were, until 2015, limited to a maximum of six months.<ref name=BBCNews>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29678989|title=Internet trolls face up to two years in jail under new laws|work=[[BBC News]]|date=19 October 2014|access-date=19 October 2014}}</ref> In October 2014, the UK's Justice Secretary, [[Chris Grayling]], said that "Internet trolls" would face up to two years in jail, under measures in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill that extend the maximum sentence and time limits for bringing prosecutions.<ref name=BBCNews /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/Internet-trolls-to-face-2-years-in-prison|title=Internet trolls to face 2 years in prison|author=UK Ministry of Justice|date=20 October 2014|access-date=15 February 2015}}</ref> The House of Lords Select Committee on Communications had earlier recommended against creating a specific offence of trolling. Sending messages which are "grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character" is an offence whether they are received by the intended recipient or not. Several people have been imprisoned in the UK for online harassment.<ref name="Tom de Castella and Virginia Brown">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14898564 |title=Trolling: Who does it and why? |author1=Tom de Castella |author2=Virginia Brown |date=14 September 2011 |work=BBC News Magazine|access-date=14 September 2011}}</ref>

Trolls of the testimonial page of Georgia Varley faced no prosecution due to misunderstandings of the legal system in the wake of the term trolling being popularized.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2012/01/14/georgia-varley-inspired-trolling-law-is-waste-of-time-says-internet-campaigner-100252-30120150/ |title=Georgia Varley-inspired trolling law is waste of time says internet campaigner|work=Liverpool Echo |access-date=2 February 2012|date=14 January 2012}}</ref> In October 2012, a twenty-year-old man was jailed for twelve weeks for posting offensive jokes to a support group for friends and family of [[Murder of April Jones|April Jones]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/10/08/man_jailed_for_12_weeks_over_april_jones_facebook_posts/|title=Lancashire man JAILED over April Jones Facebook posts|work=[[The Register]]|date=8 October 2012|access-date=11 December 2012}}</ref>

Between 2008 and 2017, 5,332 people in London were arrested and charged for behavior on social media deemed in violation of Communications Act 2003.<ref>[https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/crimes-social-media Crimes Social Media]. ''www.london.gov.uk''. Accessed 6 Aug 2024.</ref>

=== United States ===

On 31 March 2010, NBC's ''[[Today (American TV program)|Today]]'' ran a segment detailing the deaths of three separate adolescent girls and trolls' subsequent reactions to their deaths. Shortly after the suicide of high school student Alexis Pilkington, anonymous posters began performing organized psychological harassment across various message boards, referring to Pilkington as a "suicidal slut", and posting graphic images on her [[Facebook]] memorial page. The segment also included an exposé of a 2006 accident, in which an eighteen-year-old fatally crashed her father's car into a highway pylon; trolls emailed her grieving family the leaked pictures of her mutilated corpse (see [[Nikki Catsouras photographs controversy]]).<ref name="Trolling:TheTodayShowExplorestheDarkSideoftheInternet">{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://gawker.com/5506453/trolling-the-today-show-explores-the-dark-side-of-the-internet |title=Trolling: ''The Today Show'' Explores the Dark Side of the Internet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102001807/http://gawker.com/5506453/trolling-the-today-show-explores-the-dark-side-of-the-internet |archive-date=2 November 2013 |date=31 March 2010 |access-date=4 April 2010 |website=Gawker |first1=Matt |last1=Toder }}</ref>

In 2007, the media was fooled by trollers into believing that students were consuming a drug called [[Jenkem]], purportedly made of human waste. A user named Pickwick on [[TOTSE]] posted pictures implying that he was inhaling this drug. Major news corporations such as [[Fox News Channel]] reported the story and urged parents to warn their children about this drug. Pickwick's pictures of [[Jenkem]] were fake and the pictures did not actually feature human waste.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/internet-troll-sub-culture-s-savage-spoofing-of-mainstream-media-excerpt/|title=Internet Troll Sub-Culture's Savage Spoofing of Mainstream Media [Excerpt]|author= Whitney Phillips |date=15 May 2015|work=Scientific American}}</ref>

In August 2012, the subject of trolling was featured on the [[HBO]] [[television series]] ''[[The Newsroom (U.S. TV series)|The Newsroom]]''. The character [[The Newsroom (U.S. TV series)#Main cast|Neal Sampat]] encounters harassing individuals online, particularly looking at [[4chan]], and he ends up choosing to post negative comments himself on an economics-related forum. The attempt by the character to infiltrate trolls' inner circles attracted debate from media reviewers critiquing the series.<ref name=hitfix>{{cite web|url=http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/review-the-newsroom-the-blackout-part-2-mock-debate-help-me-rhonda#|title=Review: The Newsroom – The Blackout Part 2: Mock Debate: Help me, Rhonda|work=HitFix|date=13 July 2023 }}</ref><ref name=indiewire>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/the-newsroom-episode-9-review-and-recap-the-blackout-part-2-whither-the-mock-debate|title='The Newsroom' Episode 9 Review and Recap: 'The Blackout – Thompson on Hollywood|author=Beth Hanna|date=20 August 2012|work=Thompson on Hollywood|access-date=28 June 2015|archive-date=1 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701121846/http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/the-newsroom-episode-9-review-and-recap-the-blackout-part-2-whither-the-mock-debate|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2019, it was alleged that progressive Democrats had created a fake Facebook page which mis-represented the political stance of Roy Moore, a Republican candidate, in the attempt to alienate him from pro-business Republicans. It was also alleged that a "false flag" experiment attempted to link Moore to the use of Russian Twitter bots.<ref>{{cite web |title=Editorial: Online disinformation isn't just for Russia anymore |url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-alabama-disinformation-20190108-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |date=8 January 2019}} "The New York Times reported Monday that progressive Democrats opposed to Roy Moore, the odious Republican candidate in that race, created a Facebook page and Twitter feed purporting to represent Moore supporters opposed to the sale of alcoholic beverages...to associate Moore with calls for a statewide ban on the sale of liquor in order to alienate moderate, pro-business Republicans and help Democratic candidate Doug Jones..."Dry Alabama" was actually the second case of Russian-style disinformation in the Alabama campaign uncovered by the New York Times. In December it reported on an "experiment" in which a phony Facebook page was created to try to drain support for Moore from conservatives and a "false flag" operation was created to suggest that the Republican candidate was being followed on Twitter by Russian bots."</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'', when exposing the scam, quoted a New Knowledge report that boasted of its fabrications: "We orchestrated an elaborate 'false flag' operation that planted the idea that the [Roy] Moore campaign was amplified on social media by a Russian botnet.{{'"}}<ref>{{cite news |title=NBC News, to Claim Russia Supports Tulsi Gabbard, Relies on Firm Just Caught Fabricating Russia Data for the Democratic Party |url=https://theintercept.com/2019/02/03/nbc-news-to-claim-russia-supports-tulsi-gabbard-relies-on-firm-just-caught-fabricating-russia-data-for-the-democratic-party/ |work=The Intercept |date=February 3, 2019}}</ref>

The [[2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2020 Democratic]] presidential candidate [[Bernie Sanders]] has faced criticism for the behavior of some of his supporters online, but has deflected such criticism, suggesting that "Russians" were impersonating people claiming to be "[[Bernie Bro]]" supporters.<ref>{{cite news |title=Experts Say There's 'No Evidence' for Bernie's Russian Bot Claim |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/experts-call-bs-on-bernies-russian-bot-theory |work=The Daily Beast |date=February 21, 2020}}</ref> Twitter rejected Sanders' suggestion that Russia could be responsible for the bad reputation of his supporters. A Twitter spokesperson told [[CNBC]]: "Using technology and human review in concert, we proactively monitor Twitter to identify attempts at platform manipulation and mitigate them. As is standard, if we have reasonable evidence of state-backed information operations, we'll disclose them following our thorough investigation to our public archive – the largest of its kind in the industry."<ref>{{cite news |title=Twitter knocks down Bernie Sanders' suggestion that Russian trolls are behind online attacks from his supporters |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/20/twitter-knocks-down-sanders-suggestion-russian-trolls-behind-supporters.html |work=CNBC |date=February 20, 2020}}</ref> Twitter had suspended 70 troll accounts that posted content in support of [[Michael Bloomberg]]'s [[Michael Bloomberg 2020 presidential campaign|presidential campaign]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Twitter is suspending 70 pro-Bloomberg accounts, citing 'platform manipulation' |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2020-02-21/twitter-suspends-bloomberg-accounts |work=Los Angeles Times |date=February 21, 2020}}</ref>

The 45th [[President of the United States|U.S. president]] [[Donald J. Trump|Donald Trump]] infamously used Twitter to denigrate his political opponents and spread misinformation for which he earned the moniker "Troll-In-Chief" by [[The New Yorker]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Donald Trump will go down in history as the Troll-in-Chief |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/donald-trump-will-go-down-in-history-as-the-troll-in-chief |magazine=The New Yorker |date=January 29, 2021}}</ref>