Insight hears from the trolls

Next week, Insight tackles the subject of internet trolls including several who will face the cameras.

‘Trolls’ and ‘trolling’ have been dominating headlines since some high-profile Australians found themselves at the centre of vicious attacks on Twitter.

However, it’s not just celebrities being targeted. Grieving families have been shocked to find their Facebook tribute pages to dead loved ones defaced with violent and disturbing images.

While a lot has been said about these so-called trolls, hardly anyone has been able to speak to them.

In an extraordinary television event, Insight hears from the trolls themselves – unmasked and unafraid to talk openly about their activities and where they draw the line.

They face off with trolling victims and experts to discuss the impacts of trolling, whether a crackdown on trolling would threaten free speech and whether people simply need to ‘toughen up’ when they enter online spaces.

Guests include:

Andrew Auernheimer aka ‘Weev’
Andrew calls himself a troll. Also known by his pseudonym ‘Weev’, Andrew says trolling is about taking what people make public and using it to infuriate them. In 2011 he was arrested and charged for allegedly hacking into the servers of US telecommunications company AT&T and taking the personal information of Apple iPad users.

Jaime Cochran
Jaime calls herself a troll. She explains trolling as doing something inflammatory that invokes an emotional reaction from someone. She says she doesn’t target anyone in particular, just “whoever takes the bait”.

Steven
Steven is a self-proclaimed troll. He says he likes to troll people who he thinks are being aggressive or homophobic. But Steve doesn’t like Twitter trolls and says trolling has deteriorated from just ‘stirring people’ to hurting them.

Darren Hassan
Darren says he was targeted by trolls after appearing on the first series of SBS’s Go Back You Where You Came From. He says the attacks were personal and directed towards his wife and children. Facebook pages calling him a racist were also set up. Darren says anonymity online can bring out the worst in people.

Stephen Deguara
Stephen’s 15 year old daughter Kirstin was killed in a car crash in May 2010. Kirstin’s website was attacked by trolls two days after her death. The website was shut down but trolls then set up their own page about the crash.

Whitney Phillips
Whitney has interviewed trolls and studied trolling. She thinks the term ‘trolling’ is often used incorrectly by the media. She says trolls see their activities as a game. Whitney doesn’t think getting rid of anonymity on platforms such as Twitter is a step in the right direction.

Greg Walsh
Greg is a lawyer who has represented families affected by cyber bullying and trolling. He wants new legislation introduced to help prosecute people who troll and bully online. He thinks we’re getting to a stage where we should no longer allow anonymity online.

Tuesday at 8.30pm on SBS ONE.