Troll tax

Despite Melania Trump’s promise to tackle online bullying and harassment, internet trolls are still everywhere. Including in the White House.

It’s easy to feel helpless in the face of anonymous rightwing bile. But one activist has come up with a novel solution – creating a platform through which people can donate to liberal causes in response to hate-filled tweets.

“Troll Tax” is the brainchild of Seth Callaway, a Brooklyn-based creative consultant. A web app, it allows people to select individual tweets and link them to a donation to organisations that have worked against the Trump agenda: Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, Conservation International and more.

The donor can then use the Troll Tax website to tweet at the troll – letting them know their message has inspired a donation.

Callaway had the idea after noticing the innovative way in which one Twitter user reacted to a troll during an online spat.

“This one random tweeter replied to a troll,” he said, “and said: ‘Thanks for your donation to Planned Parenthood.’ And he’s like: ‘What are you talking about? I don’t donate there.” She said: ‘I’m donating each time you’re tweeting.’

“I just saw the kind of confusion and befuddlement of the troll and thought it would be cool if you could automate that, or turn it into an easy way to really do that.”

Troll Tax (@TheTrollTax) Hey @moses68ddjm1! Your tweet has raised 💰 for @ACLU in your name. You're doing amazing sweetie. https://t.co/mkr4MjhgjB #TrollTax https://t.co/H7jyjHSRoE

Callaway worked with Kevin Haight, a freelance developer, to develop Troll Tax, which launched on Wednesday.

Troll Tax keeps a leaderboard of which Twitter users have inspired the most donations. On Friday morning, @realDonaldTrump was “top troll”.

Final battle looms over net neutrality

Facebook Twitter Pinterest People demonstrate in support of net neutrality in Washington DC this week. Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is planning to vote on Thursday 14 December on a series of measures which would allow a “two-tier” internet in the US.

The FCC is likely to vote for “Restoring Internet Freedom”, despite the best efforts of activists who have been campaigning against the bill for months.

But while the battle might be over, the war is not yet won. Online activism website Battle for the Net is planning a drive to get Congress to intervene against the FCC ruling – which would dismantle net neutrality rules.

Battle for the Net has created a widget that websites can install – enabling readers to call Congress directly through their sites – and has created a simple way for people to write to members of Congress asking them to stop the FCC from voting.

What we’re reading

Polling in Alabama gives Democrat Doug Jones a shot at beating Roy Moore, writes Lauren Zanolli in the Guardian. “But political analysts have highlighted the importance of an Obama-level turnout among African American voters for a rare Democratic victory.” Zanolli went to Mobile to meet some black organizers trying to get out the youth vote.

While activists were launching a frantic effort to stop the Republican tax bill – an effort which ultimately failed – conservative groups were launching their own bid to pressure senators, Jeremy Peters writes in the New York Times. That effort included students, working on behalf of the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, going door to door to ask people to call their elected officials. It’s an interesting read.

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