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Computer-Mediated Communication

Computer-Mediated Communication. Hate Crimes, Illegal Activity, and Harassment: Trolling & Harassment/Dark Net. Trolling and the trollers who troll. Phillips – Why We Can’t Have Nice Things. “Trolls amplify the ugly side of mainstream behavior”

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Computer-Mediated Communication

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  1. Computer-Mediated Communication Hate Crimes, Illegal Activity, and Harassment: Trolling & Harassment/Dark Net

  2. Trolling and the trollers who troll

  3. Phillips – Why We Can’t Have Nice Things • “Trolls amplify the ugly side of mainstream behavior” • Emotional disengagement: their online self is not their offline self (online role playing) • Based on insider/outsider status • Real harm is not necessarily the intent (but not always . . . ) • Lulz are predicated on asymmetry – there has to be a dupe & an in-group

  4. Is anonymity the problem? • Does verified identity solve trolling? • Phillips (quoting Jonathan Zittrain): “If the internet is too open, if there are no behavioral checks, and consequently if the average user feels threatened on a regular basis, users will be much more willing to accept harsh preemptive and/or punitive measures.”

  5. Phillips’ conclusions on trolling • Problem isn’t anonymity: it’s social norms • “Ubiquity of trollish discourse” - points a finger at the media (specifically) for celebrating trollish activities • Suggests that our concern should be weighted against persistence (ephemeral vs. permanent abuse) • Less severe cases - look to the community!

  6. Citron: Hate Crimes & Cyberspace • In addition to several specific legal interventions (covered in other chapters): • Digital gatekeepers are not state actors: what kinds of speech should corporations privilege? • Suggests clearer community guidelines for users, more awareness/training about harassment/stalking issues for employees • Transparent/public “Due process” procedures • Community self-policing

  7. Interpersonal interventions – Twitter (3/16) vs. Facebook

  8. Twitter flow – Nov. 2016

  9. Interpersonal interventions – Twitter vs. Facebook

  10. Facebook’s Conflict Resolution System

  11. Facebook’s Conflict Resolution System

  12. What is the dark net? • Large scale organizing by criminals or criminal organizations, both in the ‘uncharted internet’ as well as on the backs of commercial platforms • Communities where criminals or others gather to engage in illegal or questionable behavior • Webs of online fake news/propaganda or spam created by professional trolls to influence public opinion or game search engines • Hidden services only accessible via Tor

  13. Social value of anonymity • Key conflict: the core architecture of the internet and/or the tools that allow/protect anonymity and privacy can also enable: • Privacy • Protest & collective action • Reporting on repressive regimes • Documenting abuses of power • Freedom to speak about controversial topics • And much more . . .

  14. The joy of user-generated content • ANY TIME you allow users to post unmoderated or anonymous content . . . something bad will happen! See Medium, ”The Inherent Problem with Anonymous Apps”, https://medium.com/@davidbyttow/the-inherent-problem-with-anonymous-apps-2795ef0c1855#.xct17t2kh

  15. What kinds of bad things, you ask? • Content defined as illegal in US (primarily child pornography) • Every form of sexualized content imaginable • Violence (both simulated and real), including terrorist activities • Interpersonal attacks (i.e., trolling, revenge porn, harassment, etc.) • Spam, social botnets

  16. The Internet’s toxic waste • Someone has to clean it up (content moderators), often at large cost and personal pain • In the US, private firms are put in the place of policing the limits free speech; in other countries, they are often ordered to remove content that might past 1st Amendment muster here • Adjudicating the grey areas (breastfeeding?)

  17. No bad tools, only bad users? • Commercial providers/platforms forced to deal with abusive & illegal behavior • Two major factors that enable this: • Free services (low barriers to sign up, little or no authentication, no cost) • Anonymity (whether by design, or through the user’s exploitation of loopholes in the system, e.g. IP masking, throwaway email accounts, etc.)

  18. Botnets, fake news, and trust, oh my! • Social botnets: impersonating humans vs. blanket spamming • Deceiving individuals: search results, legitimate appearing web/news sites • Social credibility: your friends as the disseminators of disinfo

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