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Grieving mother subjected to violent threats from trolls
A Queensland woman has been subjected to threats from trolls after her son died in a freak accident. OHPI’s CEO says, “Such abuse is a crime”.
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Mayor Jack Dempsey on online hate
We welcome Mayor Dempsey’s call for Federal and State Governments to “catch up with the modern world and make laws that keep people safe online”.
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Political Trolling and Suicide Incitement on Twitter
As part of our August 2020 campaign of countering online trolling, this briefing provides supplementary examples of appalling hate speech, misogyny and suicide incitement used to troll public political figures and private individuals. The briefing also explores two prominent female American political figures on opposite sides of the political spectrum, and the frequent misogynistic and…
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Unmasking Serious Trolling on Twitter
The act of serious trolling online continues to be a pervasive and inglorious form of harassment, bullying, and intimidation. Whether targeting celebrities, organizations, or other individuals, serious trolling seeks to provoke anger and outrage among social media users, with the ultimate goal of causing individual harm. In this briefing, OHPI seeks to shed light on…
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None so blind
An English proverb says “There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know”. This proverb is documented as far back as 1546 in John Heywood’s “Dialogue of Proverbs II” as, in old English, “Who is so deafe, or so…
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Face-to-face with “predator trolls” who “weren’t born that way” – with cyberhate expert and author Ginger Gorman
by Carly McClen, images by Hilary Wardhaugh. “Absolute freedom of speech online leads to places like 8Chan which played a significant role in radicalising Brenton Tarrant, in turn leading to the tragic events that unfolded in New Zealand. Without controls, an online space can spiral out of control creating a toxic culture that feeds on…
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Everything in moderation
Today we received a fair about of media attention due to our work on racism and the far-right. It started with an article in today’s Age. Just after 8am we were interviewed on talk-back radio at 3AW Breakfast. In the afternoon it was 7:30 from the ABC recording an interview which aired later that evening.…
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Investigating a troll
It started with a comment on the Online Hate Prevention Institute’s Facebook page “Be wary of donating, this is not a registered charity and is probably a scammer.” That comment is not only untrue, it’s possibly unlawful under libel laws. It leaves people who aren’t already familiar with the charity with a doubt, placing a…
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Who thinks we’re a waste of time and money?
One of the problem with social media is that it lacks context. In a recent briefing we discussed the problem of racist trolls who go out of their way to hate against those working to tackling online hate. The briefing was limited to examining a few recent comments on our own Facebook page and the…
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Hating those opposing hate
As the year draws to a close one of our key reflections is that in 2018 it became harder than ever for people to oppose online hate. While social media platforms increase the pressure on far-right groups, closing many of their pages, the people involved simply created new accounts and put their energy into trolling…