Tracking the troll

anonymous comments from online trolls damage the net

A BBC journalist hunted down a Facebook troll notorious for posting offensive messages on memorial sites.

He turns out to be sad, bitter and inconsequential man. But we knew that he would be.

What’s sadder is the troll’s view that “he’s done nothing illegal” and so that makes it acceptable.

The idea that offensive, immoral, destructive or unethical behaviour is okay as long as the perpetrator believes it’s “legal” is a rot in the heart of our society.

It’s not just Facebook trolling layabouts living on a Welsh housing estate that have this view – it is shared by many of our business, political and community leaders, it’s tolerated and even encouraged in our political parties, boardrooms and clubs.

We have a long road ahead to fix this.

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By Paul Wallbank

Paul Wallbank is a speaker and writer charting how technology is changing society and business. Paul has four regular technology advice radio programs on ABC, a weekly column on the smartcompany.com.au website and has published seven books.

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