The issue has commanded plenty of print and online media space in the past few months, notably the case of television personality Charlotte Dawson who was attacked by trolls via her Twitter account. Dawson was eventually hospitalised after attempting to take her own life as stress from the trolling campaign mounted. She subsequently spoke about the ordeal on 60 Minutes. Footballer Robbie Farah also took a stand against trolls who sent him abusive messages via his Twitter account. His stance, in particular, was complicated by the fact that Farah had earlier posted a troll-like tweet about the Prime Minister and later deleted it. A media release from SBS says the program will explore whether a crackdown on trolling would threaten free speech or whether people need to "toughen up" when they are online.

The show's guests will include three self-identified internet "trolls": Andrew Auernheimer, Jaime Cochran and a third simply known as Steven. In 2011, Auernheimer was arrested and charged for allegedly hacking into the servers of US telecommunications company AT&T and taking the personal information of Apple iPad users, SBS says. In the hacking and trolling worlds, Auernheimer is something of a minor celebrity. He is better known in those circles by his handle "weev". Insight host Jenny Brockie said the show's producers had engaged in a "long and complicated process" negotiating with the trolls to convince them to appear on the program. "I think there is something in it for them, to come on," Brockie said.

"In a sense they want to declare why they do what they do, and they're very different one to another." Trolling also meant different things to different people, Brockie said. "It can be everything from people arguing that it is a kind of 'art form' where they are using their skills to expose people, that they're putting out a bait and trying to expose things like racism or appalling values, right through to the worst of trolling, which is the defacing of RIP websites," she said. Asked if it was a difficult conversation to moderate given the emotional nature of the topic and the personal involvement of the participants, Brockie said it would be better described as "a peculiar conversation". "What I wanted to do was just let them reveal themselves, so in a sense that's what they do," she said.

"I ask them why they do what they do, what their values are and there are some interesting moments there when you talk to them about the specifics of what they do. There are some contradictions, I think." The panel will also include a former Go Back to Where You Came From participant, Darren Hassan, who says his family was targeted by trolls after his appearance on that program. According to Hassan, Facebook pages calling him "racist" were also set up. The Insight program will also feature Stephen Deguara, whose 15-year-old daughter, Kirstin, was killed in a car crash in 2010. A memorial website for Kirstin was defaced by trolls. When it was taken offline, a new page was set up to attack the family. Insight will air on Tuesday at 8.30pm on SBS.

If you are subjected to cyber bullying, visit beyondblue.org.au or call Lifeline on 13 11 14.