Twitter will have to address trolls if it wants to continue being an open platform. Why? Why?

I’d like everyone to have the ability and opportunity to share exactly what they think and feel, and not have a social media platform policing those opinions.

Well, almost everyone.

Obviously, I’m not a fan of misinformation, abusive comments, or outright lies. I don’t think we should attack each other. If my view is just, Other than the tech elite who filter out the views they don’t like, it becomes a dangerous place.

Trolls cannot hide behind anything more than an email address. This is because they created it using a VPN, and have not shared their real identity. The public square will never be secure.

If you are open to sharing your thoughts and addressing others via social media, it should not be a problem to verify who you are.

Trolls don’t like to do that. Trolls want to intimidate others and share dangerous content. They know that is possible if they can’t be traced. They are also quite dumb. To be a social media troll these days, you have to be someone who doesn’t like any policing at all, and you have to be most interested in open forums where people like to discuss ideas. Trolls love to criticize the rules regardless of who makes them or what they are.

It’s the same people who comment on articles, post YouTube videos with misinformation, and generally like to stir up trouble. Because they want to be hidden, they hide behind VPNs. Curiously, it doesn’t take much to stop them, because it’s not like an angry and abusive troll is actually smart or ingenious. Most of them wouldn’t know how to hack into your Wi-Fi account, let alone something well-protected.

My hope is that Elon Musk, who has a history of making suggestions about “good” regulations especially related to artificial intelligence, will stop the spambots and the trolls simply by adding a step or two to the registration process. Although it is more complicated than just an email address, this will not be a simple test. You only need to have an email address in order to sign up for Twitter. Any troll could sign up for Gmail and conceal their identity to abuse people. It’s way too easy.

You could even use a text to reply. Two verifications could be enough, such as phone and email. It would be a great help, I believe. Yes, trolls could create a Google Voice account or do some other workaround, but remember, they don’t like to think. Trolls will look for easy targets if they see a roadblock to their abuse. This is what you may say about trolls. They’re really dumb.

I’m sure there are other security measures that could work. Elon Musk may be willing to try one as a means to eliminate the evil actors.

Let’s hope he tries something, because the one thing we know about “open networks” is that they attract even more trolls.