BRENDAN O’NEILL: Barbaric and inhumane. This internet trolling of Kate betrays a moral rot in society that MUST be rooted out

The online prosecution of the Princess of Wales is one of the ugliest spectacles of our time. For months, an unholy alliance of crazy conspiracy theorists has used the internet to hunt down Kate and her young family.

This motley crew of anti-Kate trolls is spreading vicious speculation about her health and whereabouts. They have flooded social media sites to spread feverish, blatantly fact-free theories about Her Royal Highness.

Is she really sick? Or is she in hiding? Perhaps she left Palace life after a falling out with William.

Kate felt obliged to explain and published a video message revealing that she had been diagnosed with cancer. The princess was a model of grace and self-control

All nonsense. All stupid. All this adds to the burden on Waleses.

There are other, nastier theories, often compounded by inaccurate stories in the mainstream foreign press, which lacks the decorum of the British media. Spanish newspapers published flawed, unsubstantiated reports last week.

Amid reports that Kate is ‘considering’ an appearance on the balcony during Trooping the Color on Saturday, the ferocity of such disinformation is mind-boggling.

Who in their right mind would spend their days promoting hurtful rumors about a young mother diagnosed with cancer? Why would anyone make a hobby of harassing a poor mother whose only “crime” is taking time off to recover from surgery and illness?

The fact is that trolling Kate betrays a moral rot. It has been going on since January, when it was announced that she underwent abdominal surgery.

Crucially, this news should have meant that her medical privacy would be respected. But the abuse has continued since then, most notably summed up by the demented reaction to a charming photo of Kate and her children released to mark Mother’s Day.

Kate’s admission that she had altered the image in a small way – something everyone does in the selfie age – was seized upon by pound shop Columbos as proof, yes proof (!), that the royals are hiding something.

To everyone’s shame, Kate felt obliged to explain and release a video message revealing that she had been diagnosed with cancer.

The princess was a model of grace and self-control. It was a “huge shock,” she said calmly, but “I’m doing well and getting stronger every day.” But for all its stoicism, there was something sad about the video, which almost felt like a hostage statement – ​​made under pressure not from armed terrorists, but from crazed trolls.

There was a medieval feeling, as if a woman had been dragged into the public square, shamed by a brutal crowd into confessing her illness to strange, wide-eyed onlookers. A forced conversion to the cult of self-revelation.

Even the video was inevitably put forward by a distorted minority as proof that something was wrong. “It’s not really her,” Loons said online. “It’s AI. It’s a body double…’

Kate’s trolling is more than just an online feeding frenzy. For years, social media platforms have increased the potential for bullying, abuse and sexual exploitation. But her treatment raises pressing questions about society.

Prince William is reported to be at his wits’ end over the hunt for his wife

For starters, it shines a stark light on a scale of internet addiction that is dragging us deeper and deeper into a vortex of antisocial and immoral behavior.

For example, if we witnessed such appalling behavior in a cafe, we would respond to put a stop to it. So why do we tolerate such bullying on the internet? It doesn’t benefit anyone to pretend that mean trolls are just a modern version of bar stools. Trolling is not an extension of the human experience – it is a rejection of it.

The internet is luring us away from the institutions and social connections that have helped keep us healthy and sane for millennia.

Family, friends, real-life socializing and all other habits of togetherness have evolved over centuries – these things kept us grounded. Now, with only a flickering screen for company, people are left to fend for themselves in a virtual world of non-stop nonsense. The treatment of the princess exposes the threat that internet culture poses to civilization itself. Crazy people online can be seen and heard by thousands, perhaps millions, of people. By the strength of their fingers alone they can spread their bitter nonsense across the world.

And yet these ‘broadcasters’ are free from the rules and etiquette that apply to books, television and newspapers. The Kate haters can say whatever they want, whenever they want, without consequences. And all under the cloak of anonymity.

As a society, we must urgently address this evil. I’m convinced that if everyone had to prove who they are before they could post on social media, trolling would disappear overnight.

Kate became the target of a shocking stream of malice that trickles hourly from the Internet

Of course it’s not easy. We are often told that online anonymity is essential to freedom of expression. That without this cloak of invisibility, people would not have the confidence to tackle government corruption or stand up to ruthless rulers.

That could very well be true, at least partially. Yet it is undeniable that in many societies, including our own, the use of false identities is exploited for the purposes of bullying and harassment. Anonymity has become the stinking trench from which antisocial cowards fire their invective at public figures, degrading public life for all of us. It would be a good start if Silicon Valley’s billionaires – and our own political classes – would at least address the problem and recognize the potentially catastrophic downsides of allowing people to hide behind a mask.

We may be living in an age of 24/7 access to the inner lives of the famous. It’s a world where it’s normal to speak openly about mental health issues, where people write memoirs about their emotional hardships, and post on social media about life’s trials and tribulations.

In that context, when Kate failed to adhere to this behavior and instead graciously took time away from the public spotlight to cope with a very serious illness and care for her young family, she became the target of a shocking rush of malice oozing from her body. per hour via the internet.

The truth is that we should all be deeply concerned about how the toxic, antisocial influence of the Internet age is undermining civilized values ​​and the barbaric craze of faceless hectoring. If we fail to put an end to this, it won’t just be bad for Wales – it will be bad for Britain itself.

Prince William is reported to be at his wits’ end over the hunt for his wife. He could be too. But he must remember that there is a groundswell of decent, normal people on their side.