Erin Molan uncovers the truth about online trolls in TV expose

So you think online trolls are complete losers living out of mum’s spare room, with no lives and no mates? Erin Molan has news for you.

It’s the most fascinating part of my documentary, according to my radio co-host Dave Hughes, who has had a sneak peek at Haters Online: Erin Molan Fights Back.

As someone who has been on the receiving end of a fair bit of social media abuse over the years, he was dumbfounded by the question we posed (and answered): Who are the trolls?

Some of the worst abuse and online violence I’ve encountered has been at the hands of, well, people you’d probably never imagine.

Dads, some of them with daughters. Grandpas. Mums of multiple children. Teachers. Charity workers and even medical professionals.

Unfortunately, I’m not even exaggerating. Wish I was.

Erin Molan’s new series centres on the world of online trolls. Picture: Toby Zerna

Long gone are the days where my mental picture of “trolls” was one of complete losers living out of mum’s spare room, with no lives and no mates.

In fact, the complete opposite seems to be true.

Senior lecturer of psychology Evita March has dedicated many years to unmasking trolls, and she readily admits that what she discovered was surprising: “We often think of trolls as the outlier, fringe-dwellers of the internet,” she said.

“But trolls are not the cloaked figures hiding in the basement furiously typing away.

“Trolls are public figures, parents, friends, neighbours.”

She speaks in detail about the profile of these individuals in my new documentary, which premieres on Sky News on Tuesday night.

I’m not sure why I was so surprised to discover this because I had experienced it first-hand.

The true identity of cyber trolls may surprise you.

There was a man who was convicted in court of sending me threatening messages including:

‘You need to be face f..d violently’. And, when I was heavily pregnant expecting my first child: ‘I wish you a f…still born I wish you a f… still born I wish you a f… still born AND YOU DIE IN THE PROCESS… hip hip hooray’.

When I was shown a photo of him, it was a sensitively staged profile photo, in a domestic setting — and there he was, with two little girls, presumably his daughters.

Now, I’m not naive enough to think that fathering children automatically makes you a good bloke. It doesn’t. But the thought of someone who is playing a part in raising little girls perpetuating this kind of appalling behaviour surely offends the sensibilities of just about every reasonable person who haa ever picked up a device?

I think I derived comfort from the fact that these could not be rational and normal people. It helped keep my faith in humanity, albeit a faith that has been savagely shattered to within a centimetre of its existence.

Haters Online: Erin Molan Fights Back airs on Sky from October 18. Picture: Justin Lloyd

I want to understand the mind of a troll.

Not because I care too deeply about them, but because it genuinely intrigues me. I see that knowledge as an essential step in effectively developing policies and processes to condemn and control their behaviour.

I’ve spent my whole life convinced that the vast majority of human beings are inherently good, so I was shocked to learn that over 50 per cent of Australian adults had admitted to trolling online in some way, shape or form.

March explains there are many reasons why: “They are everyday people. There are a range of reasons why people might troll. My research has shown characteristics such as lacking personal responsibility and guilt for your actions, callousness and enjoying hurting others often play a strong role in why people troll.”

Not usually personality traits you’d associate with, say, members of the police force.

Remember the Victorian police officer who was in charge of ‘ethical standards’ who was caught trolling former officers via a fake account on Facebook? Vulgar doesn’t ever go close to describing the nature of his posts, which I won’t repeat here, but feel free to Google.

Or the farmer, also a board member of a regional hospital and a learning centre, who was forced out of his roles after being exposed as the owner of a left-wing abusive Twitter account used to attack Liberal politicians’ gender and sexuality.

Now I’m not saying spend the rest of your life paranoid about granny at the park being the one who sent you that awful message, but if you want to contemplate and acquire the necessary skills to protect yourself and your kids, or you’re just cautiously curious, then put a note in your diary, and don’t miss Tuesday night.

If you own a phone, there are frightening facts you need to know.

Haters Online: Erin Molan fights back, Tuesday at 7pm, on Sky.