The pervasiveness of online trolling has been attributed to the effect of online toxic disinhibition, suggesting that perpetrators behave in less socially desirable ways online than they do offline. It is possible that this disinhibition effect allows for everyone to start on a level playing field online, regardless of race, gender, or nationality, but it is likewise possible that the disinhibition effect is context-dependent and sensitive to socio-cultural variations. We aim to explore if toxic online disinhibition effects depend on national culture and gender by examining the extent of trolling towards tweets by Americans and Indians, from both genders. Content analysis of 3,000 Twitter posts reveals that significantly more trolling comments were posted on tweets by Americans than by Indians, and on tweets by women than men. We conclude that the online disinhibition effect may exacerbate, replicate, or mediate existing socio-cultural differences, but it does not eliminate them.

Online trolling, disinformation, and deception are posing an existential threat to democracy. Informed by the online disinhibition theory and research on the ideological asymmetry between Democrats and Republicans, we examined how the extent and style of trolling varies across social media platforms, by analyzing comments on posts by two media channels (CNN and Fox News) on three social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter). We found differences in the style and extent of trolling across platforms and between media channels, with more trolling on articles posted by Fox News than by CNN, and a different trolling style on Twitter than Facebook or Instagram. Our study demonstrates a delicate balance between the socio‐technical factors that are enabling and hindering trolling. While some platforms and government agencies believe in removing anonymity to regulate online harm, this paper makes a significant contribution against that view.

The online disinhibition effect allows trolling to spread widely. As it is possible that trolling behaviors are more frequent in some countries than others, this paper compares the extent and type of trolling in India and the USA. Through a comparative content analysis of 3,000 Twitter posts, we found that trolling varies significantly between the two countries. Specifically, we found that individuals in the USA were trolled significantly more frequently than individuals from India. Almost all trolling behaviors have been at least three time more common in the USA. We argue that the variations in trolling can be attributed to socio-cultural differences between the two countries, as trolling is more acceptable in low power distance countries.