Online abuse has been in the spotlight during this election campaign and AFL season. But researchers and policy-makers alike need to do more to understand cyberbullying against Indigenous Australians.
West Coast Eagles forward Liam Ryan copped racist abuse online after the opening round of the AFL season.
Darren England/AAP
Online trolling is a workplace health and safety issue. The AFL must expose and sanction those responsible – anything less would not only be morally debatable, but also legally questionable.
The definition of “trolling” has changed a lot over the last 15 years.
Shutterstock
Some people still think “trolling” refers to harmless fun. If we want to reduce abusive online behaviour, let’s start by getting our definitions right.
Some behaviors might help tell propaganda-spewing trolls apart from regular internet users, but the main protection is for people to think more critically about online information.
Network map of accounts within #auspol tweets mentioning or linking to Russian propaganda outlets, Sputnik and RT, May 4 – July 30, 2018.
A lot of attention has been focused on Russia’s efforts to influence American politics, but Australia has also been a target – and continues to be a target – of covert foreign influence.
Cybersecurity experts in the US knew about Russian intelligence agencies’ activities, but may not have had any idea how comprehensive and integrated they were – until now.
Does the Internet bring people together or isolate them?
Rawpixel/Unsplash
Eliminating anonymity is often touted as a solution to hostile online behaviour, but research shows that agreeable people who are more likely to leave positive comments prefer to do it anonymously.
While the occurrence of sexist harassment online is well documented, we less often consider what might be driving this behaviour.
Wes Mountain/The Conversation
The Europeans have something to teach the US about protecting citizens subject to Russian internet propaganda. Their effort isn’t just a different form of propaganda. It’s more like fact-checking.
You’ve found out your child is bullying another online. Here’s what you need to do.
from www.shutterstock.com
Shaming your child for bullying behaviour won’t help stop it.
The Scream, by Kent Monkman (2016), is part of a traveling exhibition this year on colonized Canada: Shame And Prejudice: A Story Of Resilience.
Kent Monkman
A leading Indigenous academic says too many Canadians take ugly pleasure in being ignorant about Indigenous issues. It’s time for some straight talk about Settlers with Opinions.
Katie Hopkins entering the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2015.
Ian West/PA Archive/PA Images
MPs come in for a lot of abuse online. But who are the haters and is the media partly to blame for the way it reports politics?
Trolling is no longer confined to the darker corners of the internet, especially now the U.S. president himself is engaging in it.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
We’re living in an alternate political universe of brazen lies and grotesque online spectacles of incivility. Who - or what - is to blame for trolling going mainstream?
Trolls tend to downplay the impact of their abusive online behaviour on their victims and seem to relish the mayhem they cause. Let’s use this to help them lift their game.
from www.shutterstock.com
Trolls tend to know the impact they’ll have, but don’t seem to care. So, how do we use our new findings to help stop this seemingly pointless, harmful behaviour?
The media is doing the public a disservice by using the word “trolling” to describe more serious behaviours that should be defined as online harassment and abuse.