The rise of trolls in the Philippines (and what we can do about it)

In this chapter, we consider the definition of an online political troll. We argue that in the Philippines, as in many other contexts, one needs to be careful in approaching such a contested term. We then look at the role of the online political troll in Philippine politics. We attend to how they have gained unprecedented popularity through the distinct dynamics of the country’s democracy, but also to how they have undermined the possibility of making better this very same democracy. We conclude by turning to normative frameworks that might help the public sphere move away from the pernicious predominance of toxic online political trolling. We suggest two particular approaches to re-imagining the country’s media so that it could move towards a more democratic future.