What are lolcows, the unwitting targets of online bullies?

**Joseph Chance** (0:04)
What are lolcows? The unwitting targets of online bullies.
Thanks for asking.
Long standing American forum Kiwi Farms was shut down by Cloudflare in early September 2022 The reason? An imminent and emergency threat to human life, according to the Internet Infrastructure Company's statement. That's because the forum is pretty much dedicated to online harassment. This includes practices like group trolling, doxxing and cyberstalking. It can spill over into real life harassment too. At least two victims have committed suicide since the site was created in 2013 And the online bullies have come up with a derogatory term for their targets too, lolcows. Like cash cows, they are exploited or milked for entertainment purposes. Members of forums like Kiwi Farms often target transgender people or those with disabilities because they see them as vulnerable. Who was the first lolcow then? Cyberbullying has been around as long as the internet, but Christian Chandler is often cited as the first known lolcow. The American created a comic character called Sonichu, which was a cross between Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog. He then posted images of the character online in 2007, accompanied by an ad to Find a Girlfriend. The content started getting shared online, and the trolls pounced, posting insults and threats. Gradually, forums like Kiwi Farms sprung up, facilitating this kind of online bullying. More recently, Canadian transgender activist Clara Sorenti was the subject of a dedicated thread on Kiwi Farms. Sorenti's personal information was posted, along with that of her family.
Furthermore, she was wrongly arrested after someone hacked her email account and used it to send threats to local politicians. The real world abuse continued even after she moved across the Atlantic to Northern Ireland in an attempt to escape. What can we do about this bullying?
Laws vary across the world, but unfortunately they are often insufficient in dealing with cyberbullies, who argue that they should have the right to freedom of expression. In the United States, sites like Kiwi Farms invoke Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, according to which a site cannot be held responsible for information that is shared through its services. As for the United Kingdom, again, unfortunately, bullying and cyberbullying are not crimes in themselves, and hence are not covered by the law. There are some things that you can do personally if you fall victim to such cyberbullying, or find out about someone else being bullied. As a parent or teacher, you should be wary of the elevated threat of cyberbullying to children and young people. If you're dealing with cyberbullying in the workplace, it's worth speaking up about it in the relevant department in your company. And in any other situations, you can turn to organizations like the Anti-Bullying Alliance, who will provide you with information and support. There you have it.
Now you know what lolcows are. In under three minutes, we'll re-answer your questions and help you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines. Listen along and you will really know it for sure.
Bababam.