Forums have always been the stomping ground of Trolls. We’ve all seen them in action. They harshly attack and harass their targets with no real consequence. Many have described such bullies as ‘Keyboard Warriors’ – only daring to pick fights behind the security of anonymous names and the privacy of their computer screens.
In the past, the trolling of these keyboard warriors could be ignored. They didn’t have enough material to really do much harm. But with the increasing rise in hacked websites and Gmail accounts, netizens are becoming more fearful of what is said online and how their personal information can remain safe from these trolls.
No Troll Protection
Netizens need to have their guard up because website owners and Internet Service Providers have no motivation to protect them. Under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, website owners and ISPs are released from all liability in the case that a third party defames someone on their site.
This allows them to hide behind the law while the victim remains hopeless of relief if the defamer is unidentified or insolvent. This controversy was most glaring in September 2010, when Yelp won a defamation suit making them not liable for content published.
The problem with status quo has online adults taking their own reputation management in their own hands. Surprisingly, it is the oft-thought daring and cavalier youths that are most weary about the information they share. 44% of the adults that take steps to limit the amount of information available about them online come from youths aged 18– 29. This is significantly higher to the 33% from 30 – 49 years old, 25% from 50 – 64 years old and 20% aged 65 and above.
It is also those aged 18 – 29 that are most cautious with their Facebook privacy settings, delete unwanted comments and remove their names from photos.
Reputation Attacks can Hurt
Reputation management can also have a larger impact onto profits of an organization. An anonymous company was estimated at losing $2.5 million annually due to reputation attacks on computer-generated websites. This is not surprising, as 44% of adults online have searched for information about someone whose services or advice they’ve used in a professional capacity.
The impact of reputation attacks was the driving force behind the suit against Google in France, and later Italy. Both courts found Google liable for the negative results of ‘Google Suggest’. They deemed that inappropriate results that would pop out as a user types his search keywords would lead to potential defamation.
Netizens and organizations should practice monitoring what’s being said about them online. Failure to keep an ear on the ground could lead to their reputations and their pockets in a world of a hurt.
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