“Extreme Mean: Trolls, Bullies, Predators...and you...Online"

Who hasn't seen the trash talk, the bullying or the smear campaigns launched against anyone with a “different opinion” online? Lots of people say that’s just the price we must pay for free expression. Really? What about the darkest communication that infects the Internet with caustic cruelty, sexual harassment and violent “otherism” (anti-gender, sexual preference, race, ability)? Is that free speech, or a dangerous attack on the rights of the rest of us? In this lecture, Paula Todd will challenge current thinking about the causes and consequences of cyberabuse, and explain why some people use the Internet as a weapon rather than a tool.