Rappler CEO Maria Ressa has been on a years-long crusade telling anyone who would listen how she and the Philippines’ journalism profession are “under attack”. She summarily labels anyone who is not on her side as “trolls”.
But who is she to decide who are trolls and who aren’t? Did some sort of God of the Internet descend from the Cloud to bestow a crown on her pointed head and dub her She Who Knows all Trolls and Non Trolls?
Senior research fellow at Reuters Institute Dr Julie Posetti, is an example of a highly-educated but sadly misguided person who merely defers to the comfy position rather than apply an independent mind…
I see your trolls are out in force this morning @mariaressa – clearly your commitment to facts & accuracy needle them
— Dr Julie Posetti (@julieposetti) July 13, 2019
“Trolls”, Dr Posetti? Because Maria Ressa said so? Or because you know so?
Very likely the earlier. This is the lazy path many have taken. Ironic, considering this lot preach about applying critical minds to what they come across on their social media feeds.
Filipinos should not take being called “trolls” sitting down. Nobody on the Net holds any authority to decide who is one and who isn’t. It’s the Internet — the most democratic mass media platform on the planet. NOBODY owns it.
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