It’s a strategy that’s not so quietly caught on. Instead of arguing with bigots, racists, climate change deniers, and more, people have taken to donating to organizations supporting certain causes in the name of those who oppose them. Like when Mila Kunis revealed she had been making donations to Planned Parenthood in the name of Vice-President Mike Pence for months.
While troll fighting apps and sites are not new, this week a couple of independent ad agencies created a site that lets anyone donate to a collection of progressive organizations in the name of any internet troll at all. Raleigh, NC-based ad agency Baldwin& and New York-based agency Hunter S. & Thompson, with developer and designer Seth Callaway, have launched Troll Tax. Just paste the URL of any troll tweet into the site, pick from a list of nonprofits to donate to in that troll’s name, then tweet a confirmation back at the troll, announcing publicly that their online rhetoric has prompted a donation. The link will also show the troll’s Twitter handle, amount of money raised, and any tweets they’ve made that have elicited donations from others. You can also install a Chrome Extension to initiate a donation with a single click of a “troll” button.
Donations are handled by Stripe, in conjunction with the Social Good Fund and PandaPay.