With respect to the Internet, The Macquarie Dictionary (Sixth Edition, 2013) defines a troll as:
troll1
/troʊl/ (say trohl)
verb (t)
- Internet to behave in the manner of a troll.
–noun 13. the act of trolling.
- Internet
a. someone who, protected by online anonymity, posts messages in a discussion forum, chat room, etc., which are designed to disrupt the normal flow of communication by being inflammatory or puzzling.
b. such a message.
[Middle English trollen roll, stroll, from Old French troller, from Middle High German trollen; def. 16 variant of trawl, from the notion that originally people in a chat room identified newbies by asking questions that only a newbie would take seriously]
–troller, noun
OHPI specifically focuses on trolling that is related to causing reputational damage, encouraging self-harm, threats and intimidation, and spreading hate about a person or community.
CAMPAIGNS
August 2020 – Combating Online Trolling
Our August 2020 campaign was a month long campaign that aimed to increase the focus on countering online Trolling
Below is a list of our publications documenting, reporting and highlighting instances of online Trolling.
BRIEFINGS
OHPI briefings tackle specific instances of online hate and are produced rapidly to respond to emerging problems.
November 25, 2022: Grieving mother subjected to violent threats from trolls
September 1, 2020: Trolling: the Modern-Day Coliseum
August 25, 2020: Books That Inspire Us to Stand Up Against Online Misogyny
August 19, 2020: Political Trolling and Suicide Incitement on Twitter
August 2, 2020: Unmasking Serious Trolling on Twitter
April 15, 2020: Coronavirus and the Trolls
March 21, 2019: Face-to-face with “predator trolls” who “weren’t born that way” – with cyberhate expert and author Ginger Gorman
January 6, 2019: Investigating a troll
September 11, 2017: The far-right trolls
April 18, 2017: Nathan Sykes an Australian Troll
June 1, 2016: Trolling the AFL with racism and misogyny
February 29, 2016: How to identify a Facebook troll
November 25, 2015: When does disagreement become hate?
September 16, 2015: Facebook to add a new “dislike” button
September 3, 2015: Where do trolls come from and how to we stop their cyberbullying?
August 26, 2015: Cyberbullying: Not just a teen phenomenon
August 23, 2015: Bigots target OHPI
August 21, 2015: Online Vigilantism and its perils
August 18, 2015: Cyberbullying: Tips and tools to tackle it
August 13, 2015: External Resources on Cyberbullying
July 29, 2015: External resources on Serious Trolling
May 8, 2015: Steps taken by Twitter to combat abuse
May 22, 2014: 4Chan’s /pol/ and the Trouble with Dean
April 28, 2014: Ben Garrison on Trolls
October 5, 2013: The problem of cyberbullying trolls
COMMENTARY & MEDIA COVERAGE
August 28, 2019: ‘New ‘Anti-trolling’ laws to stop online abuse and harassment’, 10 Daily
April 17, 2019: ‘Trolls target the woman behind the groundbreaking black hole image’, Ten Daily,
September 21, 2015: OHPI in the BBC News
September 3, 2015: Radio interview about OHPI’s work combating online hate (K-Rock FM)
September 1, 2015: Calls for online trolls to face harsher legal consequences (3AW)
Junw 27, 2015: Vice Magazine quotes OHPI in an article on trolls
June 4, 2015: Article on OHPI’s assistance to Ben Garrison
March 3, 2015: Fight Against Hate Flyer
December 15, 2014: New tool in fighting online hate (Australian Jewish News)
December 11, 2014: OHPI: Tracking down the data to combat online hate (The Big Smoke)
December 10, 2014: Hitting Back Against Hate (MX)
December 9, 2014: Fight Against Hate Launched (OHPI Press Release)
See also, our publications on cyberbullying.