Are the Trolls killing online comments?

Interesting piece here on the BBC website about how a number of sites have closed their online comments sections.

Personally I find the comments section far and away the most interesting part of some sites, such as, for instance, http://politicalbetting.com/.

The trolls are a nuisance, and I can understand why it takes a lot of effort on some websites to remove offensive or those which might expose the site concerned to legal action.

I suspect that the trolls may end up forcing ISPs and sites to find ways to limit anonymity - people are much less likely to write something offensive, racist, or libellous if they know they can be traced.

But it would be a shame if those who go over the top forced all websites to remove comment facilities and my bet is that it will not happen.

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