As a politically aware teenager who is constantly looking for ways to procrastinate, I spend most of my time on Youtube reading the comments section on controversial topics. The majority of the videos I watch are from The Young Turks, an online independent news commentary show that undoubtedly has a liberal bias. They are very outspoken about their views and do not hold back. As a result, they get massive amount of hate that consists mostly of trolling rather than constructive criticism. I read the comments section because although there are lots of trolls, it's still interesting to see the perspectives of people from all over the political spectrum.
A recent hot topic has been that of ISIS regarding the Paris attacks that happened earlier this week. Borders are being closed and refugees are being treated more suspiciously and have been getting cold responses from many governors of the United States. However, France has taken a different stance on the refugee crisis. Despite the fact that one of the suicide bombers held a fake Syrian passport, France has agreed to take on an additional 30,000 Syrian refugees within the next three years. This action has gone against U.S. senators and congressman that are conservative. It's important to note that other European countries such as Germany are also opening their borders to refugees that have been displaced by ISIS (about seven million). The issue is obvious: how do we make sure that there are no undercover terrorists posing as refugees? This is where most of the fear stems from.
I scrolled down to the comment section of "France INCREASES Syrian Refugee Intake After Paris Attacks" (link below) and immediately noticed the trolls. One troll writes, "Liberalism is a self destructive mental disorder. Smh". This comment received 49 thumbs up and many responses agreeing with them. However, there was someone who challenged them, saying, "You do realize that these refugees are literally running for their lives from the caliphate, right? And you really want to tell them, "Sucks to be you, bro," to their desperate faces? Send them back to be assimilated into ISIS, or outright slaughtered? You are a sad, vile, despicable human being who obviously doesn't know all that refugee processing entails." Another comment reads, "Letting all those men in is going to bite them in the ass. Wherever men go chaos and destruction follows." These are clear examples of trolls. However, when it comes to political issues, the lines between trolling and actual beliefs get blurred. Pretty scary, if you think about it. Some people's beliefs are so radical that you don't know if they are messing around or are being serious.
TL;DR: Politics is just one of the many areas where defining trolling and addressing it is hard. Sometimes it's explicit but sometimes it's subtle as well. We don't want to infringe on anyone's free speech, so we have decided to refrain from imposing limitations online. Personally, I think that's where we should stand. Of course, if there are serious threats, defamation, or harassment taking place, then it should be addressed. But that isn't trolling. Advice? If you're going to get offended by something, please make it quick. Cry, yell, punch a wall. Then sit back down and think with a clear mind if what you just did was rational or worth your time. I hope that it only takes one incident to learn to ignore the trolls and not take it to heart. After all, they don't know you, and they most certainly don't define you.
Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ee3mOe2NLM
I also watch these political news shows on YouTube and like your choice of comments to show because it seems as though it sums up the comments section very well. Instead of debating or just conversing about differing opinions people just insult each other. Even when opinions seemed to be discussed, they are still littered with insults.
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