Unscene Berlin

Globally, the right wing troll community is made up of people who have plenty of money, power and privilege... or a combination of all three. (Photo via DailyStormer.com) 
 Master of Sock Puppets The Alt-Right might be in the spotlight now, but its efforts to manipulate public opinion are likely overshadowed by the efforts of another group of trolls, whose mission it is to promote a slightly less offensive - but still conservative - worldview: those who work for the military and government. Many people will by now be familiar with JTRIG , China's 50-cent party , or the Kremlin’s “troll factories”. These monikers all refer to shadowy government intelligence units that are presumed to be spreading pro-establishment propaganda across Internet forums, worldwide. A number of leaked top-secret documents and budget statements over the years have alluded to the existence and purpose of such units: Reporters who have gone undercover in Moscow's troll fa...

Daily Stormer discussion circa 2016 Rotten to the Grassroots Twenty-sixteen was probably the worst year for online hate speech to date: a year when a loose network of neo-fascist trolls known as the Alt Right finally managed to overwhelm many online discussion platforms in the West, after years of trying. Posing as members of an outraged, but otherwise ordinary public, these trolls flooded Facebook, Twitter, and many major news websites with hateful posts like the ones above. It seemed clear that they were striving to mould a new popular consensus of contempt for minorities everywhere... and by extension, a consensus of contempt for any social justice movement that stood in their way.  And, to a degree, they succeeded in altering the public's perceptions about everything from the new Star Wars movie, to the Brexit, to Hilary Clinton’s state of health, not to mention the election campaign of President Trump.  Maybe it would be more correct to call their...