Bari Weiss, Zionist crusaders, and the era of the toxic troll

In a recent article in the New York Times titled "Bari Weiss Knows Exactly What She’s Doing,” Matt Flegenheimer writes:

As the founder, public face and heat-seeking curator of The Free Press, a new media company with ambitions to overtake the old media, Ms. Weiss, 40, has identified a mélange of reliable foils: the illiberal left; diversity, equity and inclusion programs; opponents of Israel; The New York Times, where Ms. Weiss worked until 2020...For her sins against groupthink, Ms. Weiss has suggested, she faced eviction from the media “cool kids’ table,” without regret. 

Despite her posturing, Weiss is not unique; her stances have served as a defence of and contributor to the collapse of the liberal humanitarian façade which has long veiled global white supremacy and imperialist crony capitalism.

This system has enriched the Global North at the expense of the Global South and BIPOC communities within the imperial core.

Stripping away the neoliberal veneer has inflamed anti-immigrant, racist, right-wing fascist movements, accelerating the planet's pillage and drawing in opportunists, charlatans and toxic trolls who exploit a confused, beleaguered public drowning in misinformation. Shamelessly, these operators market themselves for amusement, clicks and cash.

Is Bari Weiss a troll?

Inspired by the act of trolling, in which one fishes by trailing a baited line behind a boat waiting for a bite, provocateurs like Bari Weiss — also known as 'trolls' — comment to evoke an argument, often using irony as a means to avoid culpability.

Once they hook a mark, toxic trolls can manipulate their opponents’ emotions by using gaslighting, passive aggression and socially unacceptable means to win arguments, such as cyberbullying and coordinated assaults, sometimes with tragic consequences.

When Israel disseminated atrocity propaganda, Bari Weiss accepted it as fact, trolling Palestinians who challenged it, including the late poet Refaat Alareer. Alareer held Weiss responsible for the massive online harassment he faced and warned of its potentially deadly consequences. Tragically, Alareer was later targeted and killed by Israeli forces in a precision attack.

Trolling is not necessarily toxic. Journalists often use it to provoke a response as part of their investigative process, aiming to uncover uncomfortable truths and/or as a means to propagate information. In this context, trolling is a professional tool in the pursuit of accurate reporting.

For toxic trolls, however, truth and professionalism are secondary to attention, monetary benefits or a subjective agenda — whether personal, political or otherwise. The risks of confronting taboos directly and subsequent ostracisation are outweighed by potential tangible rewards. Former President Donald Trump has made a career of trolling, recently galvanising a sexist, racist 'troll army' which spreads misinformation to promote his agenda.

In addition to self-aggrandising and enriching themselves, toxic trolls infiltrate public discourse by presenting racism, prejudice, historical revisionism and fascistic politics, as legitimate 'opinions' worthy of 'free expression' and even support.

During these times of fear and unrest, Weiss and others like Ben Shapiro have engaged in toxic trolling behaviours, effectively capitalising on the climate of public frustration with the corruption of government, media and other cultural institutions to present their opinions as provocative, edgy, and even anti-establishment. Shapiro frequently trolls audiences on a wide range of issues, including abortion, so-called 'cultural Marxism,' critical race theory, LGBTQ rights, racism, and more.

Bari Weiss, with her media outlet The Free Press, proffers a version of trolling in which reactionary politics and viewpoints are presented as “courageous.”

Irresponsibly, Weiss has deployed a conflated identity as a privileged white Jewish Zionist lesbian to target anti-racist, anti-Zionist activists, peddle anti-transgender extremism, engage in character assassination, promote debunked atrocity propaganda and smear academics and BIPOC.

The reascension of former US President Donald Trump has fuelled this corrupt trolling phenomenon, while Democratic strategists in the Harris campaign are emulating it instead of substantially addressing valid critique of government policies and systemic malaise.

Psychological profile

It is revealing to consider the type of personality involved in toxic trolling behaviour. Research uncovers that men are more likely than women to engage in trolling. Furthermore, trolls exhibit a profile of high levels of trait psychopathy and sadism alongside abnormal empathy.

Empathy is defined by two variables: cognitive empathy is the ability to recognise and understand another’s emotions and affective empathy is the ability to experience, internalise and respond to the emotions of others.

Professional toxic trolls show high levels of cognitive empathy, with abnormally low levels of affective empathy. They are skilled at recognising and understanding emotions in others, yet do not feel, absorb or react to those emotions. Donald Trump is an excellent example in this regard.

Alongside high levels of trait psychopathy and sadism, toxic trolls are skilled at, prioritise and even enjoy manipulating environments and emotions to instigate controversy, which in turn promotes their self-serving agendas.

Social media, “influencers” and Aristotle

As social animals, humans naturally gravitate to one another and form collective units. Groups of people are typically composed of individuals who hold similar views or have shared interests.

Nowadays, virtual spaces make up a significant portion of the contexts wherein people congregate, share and discuss ideas. Today’s social media landscape has a central role in shaping culture and politics, even inspiring revolutions, and by extension affecting the future of the human race and our planet.

Research shows that politically engaged social media users can tend to immerse themselves in echo chambers which reinforce their own views. Such insular environments reward popular “influencers” with easy, instantaneous attention and fame, even to the point of celebrity status. 

Demagogic politicians like Trump troll by releasing trial balloons, which are meant to assess public opinion before implementing contentious or otherwise divisive policies.

In fact, trolling has been a very effective tool for infecting the mainstream with fringe, anti-democratic and downright fascistic ideas from within and outside of the political spectrum.

Trolling is often a behavioural pattern which manipulates empathy and capitalises on internet culture, including cyberbullying.

Whereas in print media a physical product is limited by time and space, the uniquely fast-paced and homogenous online context serves as a springboard for trolling to effectively infiltrate and virally promote ideas and agendas, regardless of motivation, validity or moral compass. 

Influencers with a wide reach can issue statements that quickly spark controversy with serious, sometimes deadly consequences, as exemplified by Weiss’s targeting of Refaat Alareer. Populist, opportunistic incitement amplifies influence across social and mainstream media. When faced with significant public outcry, trolls may issue limited retractions, though these receive far less attention and do little to undo the damage caused by the initial attack.

Understanding the dynamics of trolling behaviour and susceptibility to trolling is an important step towards minimising and reversing its personal and societal damage. Though social media platforms tend to be inherently reactionary, toxic trolls can be deflated through public protest and collective action.

During her TED Talk, Weiss quotes Aristotle on the primacy of courage as a foundation for all virtues. Aristotle also said, "The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think." Perhaps Bari Weiss can embrace these principles, finding the courage to prioritise truth over base propaganda and ambition.