Main content

Me and my trolls

Why would anyone spend time online attacking people they don’t know? What can their victims do about it? And what’s it like to meet an internet troll, face to face?

Internet trolls are harassing and bullying people like never before. That’s according to research carried out in the UK which found abuse rising as the world spends more and more time online thanks to the Covid pandemic. But who are the people behind these often anonymous attacks? How do they get involved in persecuting people they don’t even know? And what can their victims do about it? British Journalist, Sali Hughes, has been a target herself. In this edition of Assignment, she sets out to discover how trolls justify their actions, and what motivates them. She speaks to other women who have suffered online abuse and hears about the devastating impact it can have. And, she goes face to face with one of her own former tormentors to make a sobering discovery: those provoking conflict in cyberspace include the most normal people in real life.

Producer: Paul Grant

(Photo: Anonymous internet-user in a mask. Credit: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Thu 3 Dec 2020 21:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 3 Dec 2020 02:32GMT
  • Thu 3 Dec 2020 09:06GMT
  • Thu 3 Dec 2020 13:32GMT
  • Thu 3 Dec 2020 20:06GMT
  • Thu 3 Dec 2020 21:06GMT

Download this programme

Subscribe to this programme or download individual episodes