Fighting trolling online is a seemingly never-ending battle. Even ordinary folks can find themselves subjected to online abuse simply by saying something other people may not like. The modern social space is rife with such conflicts. In the battle for public opinion, the group TrollBusters has emerged as a leading voice against online harassment.
Political speech and opinions have been weaponized, says Michelle Ferrier. She’s a journalist and former dean of Florida A&M University’s Journalism school. She began her research in the early 2000s as a columnist for the Daytona Beach News Journal where she experienced online racism and threats.
Ferrier eventually figured out who was attacking her online and mailing death threats—and she says she saw the rise of misinformation and disinformation, methods she notes are used “not only to dissuade people for voting for a particular candidate but to dissuading them from speaking at all, from dissuading them having an opinion, dissuading them from voting…and even dissuading them from believing in the truth.”
The goal of trolls says Ferrier is to silence and discredit people. The information space is weaponized and people should be vigilant. For that, she’s created a website called TrollBusters, born of her own experiences and research. Recently, Troll-Busters rolled out a new tools called Navigator and the Generator Zeitgeist Escape Room. The Navigator tool is a chatbot where people suffering harassment can seek advice while the Zeitgeist escape room is used to help people better their digital literacy.
While TrollBusters was initially developed for journalists, Ferrier says the site, “really provides tools and tactics for anyone who is a creative and is depositing information on the web.”
TrollBusters has also been nominated for an Anthem Award—a global competition that recognizes projects and work that have social impact.
