Topic: WorldNetDaily
In a Nov. 26 WorldNetDaily article, Jerome Corsi reports on WND's purportedly extensive anti-trolling operation on its comment threads:
WND Internet forum moderators have conducted extensive studies of leftist, pro-Obama “trolls” who post misinformation.
In the process, the moderators have blocked from WND forums participants who post abusive language aimed at angering or otherwise insulting forum members, WND authors, management and staff.Trolls appear to perform a “disinformation” function typical of counter-intelligence efforts by intelligence agencies to confuse political enemies and refute or deflect opposing political views that are less susceptible to refutation by more traditional methods of debate and argumentation.
Typically, trolls operating on WND forums attempt to defend Obama by posting specious and diversionary arguments with the goal of changing the subject and obscuring topics that could damage Obama, such as his birth records, life narrative, political history and policy preferences, including his current positions as president.
Particularly offensive is the proclivity of trolls to use obscene or blasphemous language mixed with personal invective.
And so on. Curiously missing from Corsi's article are any specific, detailed examples of a "troll" operating at WND, only general descriptions of how they purportedly operate, or any direct quotes from any of these "WND Internet forum moderators" explaining its "troll" policy. Instead, Corsi repeats a post from "A person identified as 'AMA' posted a comment on the website Above Top Secret that apparently offers insight into how professional trolls operate."
Meanwhile, vile and offensive anti-Obama posts typically remain untouched on WND's comment threads. Corsi offered no explanation for that.
A confession: We posted on WND threads until we were banned a couple months ago We have repeatedly contacted WND for an explanation for the ban, only to be given either a non-responsive answer or ignored entirely. We made no attempt to hide our identity, nor did we engage in "obscene or blasphemous language," though we did point out that WND was ignoring inconvenient facts about its Obama birther crusade. Perhaps that was the problem.
It seems that WND, in banning purported "trolls," is also trying to keep its readers from learning things it doesn't want them to know.
If anyone at WND would like to explain why we might be wrong about that, they know where to find us.
