"Calibrated From the Very Beginning to Allow a Bigoted Harassment Campaign to Flourish"

"On an Internet built on the assumption that every contribution is equally valid, harassers are just as valuable as their victims. But as the harasser flames his victim into silence, he becomes more valuable than his target. In a recent essay, fantasy author Ferrett Steinmetz argued that, to a social media company’s 'cold bottom line, a troll calling women names all day gets more advertising hits. He is a devoted user. And so they are loath to ban anyone, because these companies make money off of large user bases, and kicking someone off risks trouble.' By 2004, Barlow had recalibrated his brand of technolibertarianism to take aim at how corporations were co-opting digital culture for their own benefit. 'Most libertarians are worried about government but not worried about business,' he told Reason. 'I think we need to be worrying about business in exactly the same way we are worrying about government.'"

Amanda Hess in Slate asks, "why does hate thrive online?"