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Sanspoint.

Essays on Technology and Culture

Ellen Pao: The trolls are winning the battle for the Internet

“Reddit is the Internet, and it exhibits all the good, the bad and the ugly of the Internet. It has been fighting this harassment in the trenches. In February, we committed to removing revenge porn from our site, and others followed our lead. In May, the company banned harassment of individuals from the site. Last month, we took down sections of the site that drew repeat harassers. Then, after making these policy changes to prevent and ban harassment, I, along with several colleagues, was targeted with harassing messages, attempts to post my private information online and death threats. These were attempts to demean, shame and scare us into silence.”

Former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao: The trolls are winning the battle for the Internet – The Washington Post

After this, I’m amazed Ms. Pao is as optimistic as she comes across in this piece. One thing is certain—the lassiez faire, “free speech” above all attitude is no longer going to work on the Internet and its communities. The trolls are winning, but only because the opposing forces are just beginning to mobilize.