{"id":13774,"date":"2016-02-25T16:37:49","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T02:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13774"},"modified":"2016-02-25T16:37:49","modified_gmt":"2016-02-26T02:37:49","slug":"tangent-mcneill-in-no-1-shimbun-into-the-valley-of-the-trolls-is-ignoring-them-really-an-effective-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13774","title":{"rendered":"Tangent: McNeill in No.1 Shimbun: “Into the Valley of the Trolls”: Is ignoring them really an effective strategy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. \u00a0Excellent potential for discussion being broached with the following article, long overdue. \u00a0Excerpt and my comment follows. \u00a0Dr. ARUDOU, Debito<\/p>\n

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Into the Valley of the Trolls<\/strong>
\n Is growing online harassment just part of the job or should it be confronted? And when does it cross the line?<\/strong>
\n by David McNeill<\/strong>
\n No. 1 Shimbun, Sunday, December 27, 2015<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.fccj.or.jp\/number-1-shimbun\/item\/724-into-the-valley-of-the-trolls\/724-into-the-valley-of-the-trolls.html<\/a><\/p>\n

For most correspondents, it has become an unpleasant morning ritual: opening the laptop and wading through abusive tweets and mail. One of my recent articles, on Japan\u2019s plunging press-freedom rankings provoked this response: \u201cYou\u2019re anti-Japanese scum. Japan grows weaker because left-wing traitors here mix with the likes of you. Get out, moron.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s mild compared to the slurs that percolate on the Twitter feeds of star reporters. Hiroko Tabuchi, former Tokyo correspondent for the New York Times, recalls a stream of invective laced with sexual and ethnic smears (see sidebar).Justin McCurry, Tokyo correspondent for the Guardian has been branded an \u201cultra-leftist North Korean spy\u201d and repeatedly invited to \u201cFack off.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Many reporters trudge the path taken by McCurry, from engagement to frustration, and resignation. \u201cI have tried several different ways to deal with trolls, from snapping back to taking the time to dream up what, in my mind at least, is a rejoinder so withering that it will surely be the final word on the matter. It never is, of course.\u201d Increasingly, he says, he reaches for the Twitter mute button: When trolls send an abusive message now \u201cthey are simply pissing into cyberspace.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But McCurry says it\u2019s important to understand the difference between legitimate criticism and trolling. \u201cI\u2019ve had my share of critical emails, tweets and Facebook postings,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen the point is made in a temperate manner and, more importantly, with a real name attached, I take in what has been said and, if necessary, respond. But I regard this as reader feedback, not trolling.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cyber abuse is a serious issue, notes a recent article in the Columbia Journalism Review. \u201cThere\u2019s far from any kind of consensus on how to deal with it and what journalists\u2019 roles are,\u201d says author Lene Bech Sillesen. Law enforcement struggles to deal with the proliferation of anonymous online harassment. Platform providers often \u201csuck\u201d at dealing with trolls, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo memorably admitted this year.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Increasingly, the consensus seems to be shifting toward confrontation. The Review cites a growing genre of stories about unmasking trolls. In the Swedish TV show Troll Hunters, journalist Robert Aschberg tracks down and confronts offenders on camera. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge problem,\u201d says Aschberg, \u201cand it\u2019s no different from exposing, let\u2019s say, corrupt politicians, or thieves.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

THE RISE OF THE troll, and the shifting terrain it represents in our networked society, is a particular dilemma for journalists. For decades, virtually the only rejoinder available to print readers was the carefully moderated letters page, but the internet has opened up multiple channels of feedback. Many bloggers view journalists as fair game because they are public figures.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Inevitably, the result is a steady river of bile, but most journalists are understandably wary of trying to block it. As Martin Fackler, a former Tokyo bureau chief of the New York Times notes: \u201cYou\u2019re walking a fine line. Journalists dish out criticism, and need to take it with the same grace. Otherwise, we look hypocritical. And we need to support freedom of speech, even for our critics.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In practice, most journalists follow Fackler in not feeding the trolls, and many don\u2019t even block them to avoid the providing the veneer of cyber-street cred. Fackler, who says he has yet to block any troll accounts, advocates only shutting down those that cross boundaries of decency. \u201cShort of that, I think everyone deserves the same freedom of speech that we demand in our own work.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Where, however, do these boundaries lie? Perhaps the only line everyone agrees on is the one dividing incivility from threats of violence….<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The rest is at\u00a0http:\/\/www.fccj.or.jp\/number-1-shimbun\/item\/724-into-the-valley-of-the-trolls\/724-into-the-valley-of-the-trolls.html<\/a><\/p>\n

I did leave a comment at the article:<\/p>\n

=======================================
\nJanuary 29, 2016<\/strong>
\nThanks for the article. One thing I might add, as a longtime veteran of being targeted by trolls, is that it’s worse for some of us than you mentioned above. For example, I have numerous online stalkers, who dedicate many electrons on cyberspace (even devote whole websites and hijack Biographies of Living People on Wikipedia) not only to misrepresent my arguments, but also to track my personal life and advocate that I come to harm. I’ve endured death treats for decades, and I can’t conclude that merely ignoring trolls and hoping they’ll go away is an effective answer either. After all, as propaganda masters know, if enough people claim something is true, it becomes true, as long as through constant repetition they gain control over the narrative.<\/em><\/p>\n

I for one never visit these stalker sites, but lots of people who should know better do look at them without sufficient critique, and (as you noted above) assume that my not commenting about their false allegations is some kind of admission in their favor. What the stalkers actually get out of all this wasted energy truly escapes me.<\/em><\/p>\n

So after realizing that being ignored still works in their favor, now they are going after journalists, which brings into the debate issues of freedom of the press. Plus journalists have a more amplified public soapbox and credibility to advocate for change than we activist-types do. I hope you will continue to research and speak out against this, and not fall into the mindset that anonymous threats and stalking are simply part of being a public figure.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks again for broaching the subject.<\/em> Arudou Debito<\/strong><\/p>\n

=======================================<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

McNeill: For most correspondents, it has become an unpleasant morning ritual: opening the laptop and wading through abusive tweets and mail. One of my recent articles, on Japan\u2019s plunging press-freedom rankings provoked this response: \u201cYou\u2019re anti-Japanese scum. Japan grows weaker because left-wing traitors here mix with the likes of you. Get out, moron.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s mild compared to the slurs that percolate on the Twitter feeds of star reporters. Hiroko Tabuchi, former Tokyo correspondent for the New York Times, recalls a stream of invective laced with sexual and ethnic smears (see sidebar).Justin McCurry, Tokyo correspondent for the Guardian has been branded an \u201cultra-leftist North Korean spy\u201d and repeatedly invited to \u201cFack off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many reporters trudge the path taken by McCurry, from engagement to frustration, and resignation. \u201cI have tried several different ways to deal with trolls, from snapping back to taking the time to dream up what, in my mind at least, is a rejoinder so withering that it will surely be the final word on the matter. It never is, of course.\u201d Increasingly, he says, he reaches for the Twitter mute button: When trolls send an abusive message now \u201cthey are simply pissing into cyberspace.\u201d<\/p>\n

But McCurry says it\u2019s important to understand the difference between legitimate criticism and trolling. \u201cI\u2019ve had my share of critical emails, tweets and Facebook postings,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen the point is made in a temperate manner and, more importantly, with a real name attached, I take in what has been said and, if necessary, respond. But I regard this as reader feedback, not trolling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debito: One thing I might add, as a longtime veteran of being targeted by trolls, is that it’s worse for some of us than you mentioned above. For example, I have numerous online stalkers, who dedicate many electrons on cyberspace (even devote whole websites and hijack Biographies of Living People on Wikipedia) not only to misrepresent my arguments, but also to track my personal life and advocate that I come to harm. I’ve endured death treats for decades, and I can’t conclude that merely ignoring trolls and hoping they’ll go away is an effective answer either. After all, as propaganda masters know, if enough people claim something is true, it becomes true, as long as through constant repetition they gain control over the narrative.<\/p>\n

I for one never visit these stalker sites, but lots of people who should know better do look at them without sufficient critique, and (as you noted above) assume that my not commenting about their false allegations is some kind of admission in their favor. What the stalkers actually get out of all this wasted energy truly escapes me…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,5,26,13,46,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discussions","category-human-rights","category-ironies-hypocrisies","category-media","category-practical-advice","category-tangents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13774\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}