![Gamergate (harassment campaign) Article Talk From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see Gamergate (disambiguation). Gamergate or GamerGate (GG)[¹] was a loosely organized misogynistic online harassment campaign and a right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. [2][³] It was conducted using the hashtag "#Gamergate" primarily in 2014 and 2015.[1][4][5][6] Beginning in August 2014, Gamergate targeted women in the video game industry, most notably feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian and video game developers Zoë Quinn and Brianna Wu, among others.[7][8][9][10][11] The harassment campaign included doxing, r--- threats, and death threats.[12][13][14] Gamergate proponents ("Gamergaters") stated that they were a social movement, but lacked well-defined goals, a coherent message, and leaders, making Gamergate difficult to define.[15][16][17] Gamergaters claimed to promote ethics in video games journalism, claimed to be protecting the "gamer" identity, and opposed what they asserted as "political correctness" in video games.[18][19][20][21][22] Read Date Target Gamergate, online harassment campaign in 2014-15 that targeted women in the video game industry. The attacks were attributed largely to white male right-wing gamers who railed against the rise and influence of women and feminism in the industry. Gamergate served as a recruiting tool for the growing alt-right movement and helped spur the online “Pizzagate" conspiracy theory, which soon spawned the wider QAnon conspiracy movement. …………………………....…..……….…..... Attack type Victims Motive View source Inquiry XA 28 languages ✓ Perpetrators Internet trolls, particularly from 4chan, Internet Relay Chat, and 8chan View history Tools ✓ Gamergate August 2014 - 2015 Women in the video game industry See all media Online harassment campaign Zoë Quinn, Anita Sarkeesian, Brianna Wu, and others Gamergaters created conspiracy theories falsely accusing Quinn of an unethical relationship with video game journalist Nathan Grayson.[23][24][25] More broadly, they alleged unethical collusion between the press and feminists, progressives, and social critics.[17][26] [27] These claims were widely dismissed as trivial, conspiracy theories, baseless, or unrelated to actual issues of ethics in gaming and journalism.[28] [29][30] Gamergate supporters frequently denied that the harassment took place, falsely claiming it to be manufactured by the victims.[31][32] Misogyny anti-feminism anti- progressivism FBI investigation Gamergate has been described as a culture war over cultural diversification, artistic recognition, feminism in video games, social criticism in video games, and the social identity of gamers.[28][33] [34] [35] Many supporters of Gamergate opposed the increasing influence of feminism and so-called "social justice warriors" on video game culture. [2][36] Gamergate led figures both inside and outside the gaming industry to focus on methods of addressing online harassment, ways to minimize harm, and prevent similar events. [37] [38] [39] [40] Gamergate has been viewed as a contributor to the alt-right and other right- wing movements.[21][41] Video game developer Brianna Wu](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/002/691/215/331.png "What the actual f--- are we supposed to do about this")
![2:59 OOO ← १ठ ll 36% r/GamerGhazi u/nounal-the-adjective • 9y Know Your Meme is beyond saving at this point. http://knowyourmeme.com/ Join Seriously, look at the trending bar. Not only has Gamergate floated at the top of the toilet bowl like the faecal matter it is, memes about anti-feminism, fat-shaming and 'bikini bodies; have become more prevalent. The articles themselves aren't usually that slanted, but the comments...oh God, the comments. It makes me sad how within the past eight months, iconic corners of this web space have been taken over by Gamergate ideology. I have no doubts that internet users have held these opinions for a long time, but like a Neo-Nazi rally they openly parade their parochiality nowadays. It makes me wonder what the cyberspace will look like in the decades to come; whether the gators will be flushed down into the sewers (oh look! Even more conspiracy theories!) or if they'll continue to fester. I can only hope this one day blows over. 74 97 Comments [deleted] 9y They got Know YourMeme... we got Wikipedia. nounal-the-adjective OP ⚫ 9y Reply Haha...you made me that bit more optimistic. Thank you. [deleted] 9y We also have rationalwiki, the ultimate source of knowledge 81 36 43 QuintinStone 9y 3* Pro-sock, Anti-chocobo But they have Conservapedia, and also evolution is a lie. III 26](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/002/837/510/fed.jpg "R/gamerghazi throwback")
GamerGate
Editor's Note: Please discuss and request necessary changes to the article in this thread. If you have any additional questions, please contact a moderator.
- Overview
- Background
-
Notable Developments
- #GamerGate
- Anti-Gamer Backlash
- "Bloggers" vs "Journalists"
- #GameOverGate
- "GameJournoPros" List
- Julian Assange's Reddit AMA
- Censorship on 4chan
- Mass Exodus to 8chan
- Edit War on Wikipedia
- C.H. Sommers' Comments
- Oppressed Gamergater
- Brianna Wu Doxxing
- News coverage
- #StopGamerGate2014
- David Pakman's Coverage
- Databases
- #PizzaGate
- CalEx & HBB
- SPJ Airplay debate
- #SavePoint SXSW 2016 Panel
-
/r/KotakuInAction Discord
Overview
GamerGate refers to the online backlash against perceived breaches of journalistic integrity on video game news sites that occurred as a result of the Quinnspiracy, an online controversy surrounding indie game developer Zoe Quinn's alleged affairs with a number of men working in the video game industry, including Kotaku staff writer Nathan Grayson. The term has also since been used to describe the group of internet users, based mainly on Twitter, who claim that there is a lack of transparency within the video game journalism industry. These same people have also been criticized of practicing misogyny and sexism by many, through harassment and trolling, referring to their opposition as social justice warriors.
Background
The Zoe Post
On August 16th, 2014, game developer Zoe Quinn's ex-boyfriend Eron Gjoni published an online expose detailing their relationship called the Zoe Post. In the expose Gjoni claims Quinn cheated on him with several men in the gaming industry, including Kotaku journalist Nathan Grayson. These claims were subsequently refuted by Kotaku editor-in-chief Steve Totilo in a post on the website.[76] In this post he claims that the only time Nathan mentioned Quinn was in a post about a gaming competition known as GameJam.[77] The day following the publication of the Zoe Post, YouTuber MundaneMatt uploaded a video critiquing Quinn's game Depression Quest and commenting on the alleged affairs with men working in the video game industry.[3] The video was subsequently removed due to a copyright claim allegedly by Quinn for using a still image from the game.[2] On August 18th, YouTuber Internet Aristocrat uploaded the first in a series of videos titled Quinnspiracy Theory, in which he discusses the issue of cronyism in gaming media and the indie game development community.
Ethics in Gaming Journalism
As concerns over the alleged integrity of gaming journalists increased, it was discovered that several were actively contributing money to Quinn's Patreon account,[5][6] including Polygon editor Ben Kuchera who had been donating to Quinn for several weeks prior to writing an article about her game. Kotaku writer Patricia Hernandez subsequently came under scrutiny as well when gamers began investigating her alleged romantic relationships with other video game developers.[7] Similarly, many criticized sound designer Robin Arnott for having an alleged affair with Quinn while appearing as a judge in the Indiecade game competition, which gave Quinn an award for Depression Quest.[8]
On August 26th, Kotaku[4] editor Stephen Totilo posted a statement regarding the gaming news site's code of ethics, announcing that Kotaku journalists would not be allowed to contribute to the Patreon accounts of game developers. The same day, Polygon[11] followed up with a similar statement announcing that all writers must disclose any contributions they have made to developer's Patreon accounts. Readers later released a statement condemning Polygon's new ethics policy for being unsatisfactory[9] Some criticized the new policies for being unfair, while others suggested the policy change was the result of sexism and misogyny.
/r/KotakuinAction
On August 24th, 2014, the /r/KotakuInAction subreddit was launched by Redditor[103] david-me. Modeled after the name of another social justice reactionary subreddit called /r/TumblrinAction, /r/KotakuinAction quickly established itself as one of the earliest ad-hoc communities to emerge in the wake of the scandal, amassing nearly 100,000 subscribers within its three years of existence. As the public interest in GamerGate began to decline in the latter half of the decade, /r/KotakuinAction became a broader social hub and a forum for those who share skeptical or critical views on the rise of social justice and the culture of political correctness.
Sexism in Gaming Culture
After the Zoe Post, many commentators online, including social justice bloggers, began to condemn the gaming industry, and the culture surrounding it, for being filled with sexism and misogyny. Many news sites began to report on these allegations, many of which saw this alleged harassment as proof of the sexism rooted within gaming culture.[78][79][80] Among those who were targeted by this harassment included video game developer Brianna Wu,[81] and actress/livestreamer Felicia Day.[82]
On October 29th, 2014, video game critic Anita Sarkessian appeared on Stephen Colbert's late-night news show The Colbert Report to discuss sexism in the gaming industry.[83] The clip of Sarkessian and Colbert's discussion was later uploaded to Comedy Central's YouTube channel (shown below), and was reported on by various sites such as The Verge[84] and The Washington Post.[85]
Notable Developments
#GamerGate
On August 27th, actor Adam Baldwin posted a tweet linking to Internet Aristocrat videos along with the hashtag #GamerGate."[1] In the first week, the hashtag was tweeted over 244,000 times[13] according to the Twitter analytics site Topsy (shown below left). By November, the hashtag had been tweeted just over 1.8 million times in the prior month, with an average of 50,000 tweets per day (shown below right).
Anti-"Gamer" Backlash & "The End of Gamers"
On August 28th, several news sites published articles calling for an end to the "gamer" cultural identity, including The Financial Post, Ars Technica, The Daily Beast, The Stranger, Beta Beat, Gamasutra, Polygon and Kotaku (shown below).
On September 1st, journalists and independent developers involved in this 'anti-gamer' movement published a signed open letter to the gaming community, asking gamers to end the harassment towards critics and developers.[15] The following day, software engineer Benjamin Quintero published an article on Gamasutra questioning the strategy of gaming sites deliberately alienating their core readers by denouncing their culture.[16] Shortly after, Quintero tweeted that he had been downgraded by the video gaming news blog. On August 30th, the GamerGate Harassment Tumblr[10] blog was launched, which chronicled harassment of gamers by those associated with the online social justice community.
On September 3rd, YouTuber Boogie2988 uploaded a video responding to accusations of bigotry toward those who support GamerGate (shown below). In the first 24 hours, the video gained over 111,000 views and 7,000 comments.
"Bloggers" vs "Journalists"
Once the calls for journalistic integrity began to grow louder, various writers for mainstream gaming media outlets started publicly rejecting the title of "journalist" and began referring to themselves as "bloggers". During the PAX Prime 2014 Q&A panel on August 29th, several panelists made a point to repeatedly declare themselves as "not journalists." Contrary to the trend however, Kotaku stated that it hired "journalists" and not "bloggers".
TheQuinnspiracy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/StevenBeynon">StevenBeynon Kotaku is staffed by journalists. Not "bloggers."
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) 27 augustus 2014
#GameOverGate
On September 5th, Zoe Quinn posted a series of compiled screenshots from an IRC chat claiming it as evidence that GamerGate was a conspiracy started by 4chan to get people to harass women and gaming journalists. Immediately afterward, the hashtag #Gameovergate[17] was created by Quinn's followers to mock the gamergate movement.[14]
On the following day, The Escapist Magazine's Co-founder Alexander "Archon" Macris, visited the IRC channel to cover their side of the story in an article.[18] In the article, the members of the channel shared how all the screenshots Quinn showed were taken out of context to mislead viewers or written by trolls attempting to disrupt the channel who were subsequently banned. Additional chatlogs[19] were provided for the missing context.
"GameJournoPros" Mailing List
After several articles critical of the "gamer" identity were being posted on gaming news websites, people began speculating that journalists had worked together to promote a narrative against gamers that disagreed with them. On September 17th, Brietbart staff writer Milo Yiannopoulos posted a tweet hinting he had obtained information about a "co-ordinated approach" used by journalists who wrote the articles (shown below).
Later that day, Breitbart [20] published and article titled "Exposed: The Secret Mailing List of the Gaming Journalism Elite," revealing a private Google group mailing list titled "GameJournoPros," purportedly used by gaming journalists cooperating to work against GamerGate. The article contained several screenshots taken from the mailing list, which discussed ways to approach the topic of Zoe Quinn and the GamerGate controversy (shown below).
![On Tue, Aug 19, 2014 at 9:43 AM, Kyle Orland <kyle orlando If you are behind on the appalling doxxing attempt against her overnignt, read this first:http /ipastebin com/v4DGSQaR wrote The very first paragraph of that statement: This has nothing to do with games and is not a matter of legitimate public interest, but is simply a personal matter. I would hope and request that the games press be respectful of what IS a personal matter, and not news. This is explicitly about my private life, which has been regrettably forced into the public and framed by people who pose a threat to my safety and well being as well as that of the people I love. I would hope that the effort people have gone through to dress it up as anything more would not be enough to have those who see it for what it is take the bait. I understand where Quinn is coming from, and want to respect her desire for privacy. At the same time, I do feel that there is some legitimate public interest in a game developer being attacked by "the internet. At the same time as*that",I don't want to in essence reward the jerks doing this by giving their "issue" any attention at all (Im not even going to give the b------- journalism ethics" excuse for these attacks the time of day. Even if there is any merit to those accusations, the sickening facts of these attacks easily overwhelms it) But then there's this, from Quinn's statement I have forfeited (my privacy] by being a "public figure" in a small community, while those who delight in assailing me hide behind their keyboards and a culture that permits it, beyond reproach." That "beyond reproach" part is bugging me, because I would LOVE to use my platform to reproach this kind of behavior... but that would go against Quinn's valid and understandable desire not to have this personal matter publicized by the media So what's to be done? Maybe we should just stick to Twitter to boost the signal on this one, rather than our "front pages." (Quinn seemed initially OK with people retweeting her statement she took down the original Tumbir post, so who knows). Maybe we should get a public letter of support going around decrying these kinds of personal attacks, signed by as many sympathetic journalists/developers as we can. Maybe we should just use this as an excuse to give more attention to her work... I know I've been meaning to review Depression Quest since its Steam release. tter.com/TheQuinnspiracy/status/501644035593748481) but then](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/832/094/308.jpg "Kyle Orland's email")
Julian Assange's Reddit AMA
On September 15th, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange participated in an "ask me anything" thread on the /r/IAmA[22] subreddit to answer about his new book When Google Met WikiLeaks. After Redditor ShaskaOtselot asked for his opinion censorship of GamerGate discussions on Reddit, Assange replied that it was "pathetic." After another Redditor pointed out that ShaskaOtselot had been shadowbanned, Assange edited the post to point out that a user had been banned for asking him a question about censorship. On the same day, Julian Assange tweeted about this event using the hashtag #gamergate.[23][24]
![[-] ShaskaOtselt How do you feel about the censorship on Reddit in wake of GamerGate? permalink source save save-RES report give gold reply hide child comments ^ [H] 55 points an hour ago ︿ [-] DOH ewe nee [+1] Julian Assange! [S] 101 points an hour ago @ It's pathetic. But censorship by companies controlling privatized political space is now almost a norm. Facebook is implementing its own "laws" for social behavior and politics. Even Twitter has now folded; censoring for example, leaks about the New Zealand prime minister just this weak and some time ago banning Anonymous Sweden after a request from that country. High volume publication-control of publication by powerful organisations = censorship, all the time. We have to fight to create new networks of freedom. The old and powerful always become corrupt. permalink source save save-RES parent report give gold reply - doodep 17 points 11 minutes ago I thought I should let you know that the person you just replied to in regards to GamerGate has been shadowbanned. Clicking on /u/ShaskaOtselot I+1wl bring you to a page not found. He will not know he's been banned This is the current state of Reddit's community and free speech. permalink source save save-RES parent report give gold reply load more comments (2 replies) [-] Thisonepun [+1] 19 points 22 minutes ago And now he's Shadowbanned permalink source save save-RES parent report give gold reply [-] 9-style 1 point 2 minutes ago H-------- REDDIT HAS F------ BALLS, SHADOWBANNING IN FRONT OF JULIAN ASSANGE. HAHAH F------ JESUS permalink source save save-RES parent edit delete reply](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/830/935/c22.jpg "Reddit shadowbans user talking to Julian Assange")
It was later revealed that the user was shadowbanned months prior for violating site-wide rules and that the mods thought his comment was mistakenly marked as spam and approved it.[55]
Censorship on 4chan
Starting in mid-September, many posts discussing GamerGate were deleted on various board on 4chan, leading many users to question the integrity of the site's moderation team. On September 17th, YouTuber Dr. Layman posted a video revealing an IP range ban on 4chan blocking users in Germany from posting to the /pol/ (politics) and /v/ (video games) boards.
On the following day, members of the /sp/ (sports) and /v/ boards spammed images of the janitor from the animated television series Arthur[21] with the phrase "He does it for free" aimed at 4chan's moderation team. On September 19th, 4chan founder Christopher Poole posted an announcement explaining why all GamerGate threads were being removed from the site, claiming that many were violating the site’s global “no personal information / raids / calls to invasion” rule (shown below).
![[Return [Catalog] [Bottom] Gn Regarding recent events moot ## Admin 4 minutes ago No.264185884 メ曲 The decision to remove "GamerGate" threads has been poorly communicated, and that's my fault. Said threads are being deleted primarily because they violate our blanket "no ersonal information /raids calls to invasion" rule. Spamming the reports system and creating multiple topics were also a factor, especially given /v is one of 4chan's fastest moving boards and has historically struggled with keeping topics limited to actual video games. Regarding a perceived lack of free speech/censorship - many seem to misinterpret my advocating for anonymous communication and highlighting that it allows people to share things they otherwise wouldn't be comfortable with on other platforms as "you can say and do anything on 4chan," which simply isn't the case. We've had rules and moderators since the site was founded 11 years ago*, and I've only reinforced this statement over the years, a la: https://archive.moe/a/thread/580080/#580135 To those who actually want to use /v/ to discuss vidya and not a movement that has outgrown 4chan (a la Project Chanology) - apologies for the inconvenience Return] [Catalogl [Top]](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/832/349/1f2.png "Moot Responds to GamerGate deletions")
The decision to remove "GamerGate" threads has been poorly communicated, and that's my fault. Said threads are being deleted primarily because they violate our blanket "no personal information / raids / calls to invasion" rule. Spamming the reports system and creating multiple topics were also a factor, especially given /v/ is one of 4chan's fastest moving boards and has historically struggled with keeping topics limited to actual video games.
Regarding a perceived lack of free speech/censorship -- many seem to misinterpret my advocating for anonymous communication and highlighting that it allows people to share things they otherwise wouldn't be comfortable with on other platforms as "you can say and do anything on 4chan," which simply isn't the case. We've had rules and moderators since the site was founded 11 years ago, and I've only reinforced this statement over the years, a la: https://archive.moe/q/thread/580080/#580135
To those who actually want to use /v/ to discuss vidya and not a movement that has outgrown 4chan (a la Project Chanology) -- apologies for the inconvenience.
Exodus to 8chan
After experiencing censorship issues while on 4chan, many supporters of #GamerGate subsequently flocked to the rival site 8chan as an alternative image board with fewer restrictions. Users then began to mockingly refer to 4chan as “halfchan” and sarcastically lamented the site’s demise with the expression “4chan is kill.” Supporters temporarily gathered under the board /gg/, but soon fled to a new board titled /gamergate/ after experiencing a general disagreement of moderation practices that were executed by the original owner of the /gg/ board.
Wikipedia Edit War
On September 23rd, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales tweeted that he would be looking into the edit war occurring on the GamerGate Wikipedia article. Two days later, Wales posted 11 tweets addressing the article, referring to it as a "badly written battleground" (shown below). In the period following, Wales continued to be involved with the page and over time had requested various editors to step back from editing the article.[38][39][41]
C.H. Sommers' Commentaries
On September 16th, 2014, the American Enterprise Institute YouTube channel upload a video in their "Factual Feminist" series titled "Are video games sexist?", in which host Christina Hoff Sommers refutes arguments by feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian (shown below). In the first three weeks, the video gained over 440,000 views and 7,700 comments. As the video began circulating online, GamerGaters began referring to Sommers as "Based Mom." On October 28th, 2014, Ronan Farrow interviewed Sommers about #gamergate at MSNBC. Following the interview, many people criticized the interviewer's behaviour.[40]
Oppressed Gamergater
Oppressed GamerGater[31] is an image macro series originally intended to mock the GamerGate community, but later turned into mocking the viewpoints and stances of the opposing side of the controversy. On October 9th, 2014, video game developer Brianna Wu[33] tweeted an image macro series titled "Oppressed GamerGater" to criticize the GamerGate community.[32] In reply to this, on the online imageboard 8chan, users started to create new image macros of the character with messages that disagree with the contra-gamergate community.[30] This development was subsequently shared the next day on the /r/KotakuInAction subreddit.[34][35]
Brianna Wu Doxxing
On October 10th, an anonymous user on 8chan posted Wu's address, phone number and email to the /gg/ (GamerGate) board. Several users responded denouncing the post and raising suspicions that it was part of a false flag attack (shown below, left). That evening, Wu tweeted that she was contacting the police after receiving threats from a Twitter account named "Death to Brianna" (shown below, right).
On October 13th, MSNBC covered #Gamergate with Eric Johnson and Brianna wu during which Wu claimed the death threats she recieved came from #Gamergate and 8chan.co (shown below, left). On October 14th, Frederick Brennan and Brianna Wu were featured on a Huffpost live segment in which Wu blamed Brennan and #Gamergate for her doxing, after which Brennan refuted the mistakes of Brianna's explanation (shown below, right).[37]
On March 17th, 2016, Syfy channel aired episode 102 of "The internet ruined my life". It featured an interview with Brianna Wu about the death threats she received.[97]
#StopGamerGate2014
On October 14th, 2014, video game critic Anita Sarkeesian tweeted that she canceled her talk at Utah State University when her requests were denied for pat downs or metal detectors after receiving death threats (shown below).
That evening, the hashtag #StopGamerGate2014[36] began trending worldwide on Twitter, accompanied by tweets denouncing the GamerGate movement as misogynistic and promoting violence toward women.
YouTuber MundaneMatt subsequently posted a video addressing the hashtag, arguing that the majority of the GamerGaters were not represented by those who were sending threats (shown below, left). Meanwhile, YouTuber Boogie2988 posted a video calling for a compromise between the two sides (shown below, right).
On October 15th, 2014, YouTuber Philip DeFranco uploaded a video in which he complies a history of GamerGate up until the #StopGamerGate2014 movement (shown below).
The David Pakman Interview Series
On October 27th, David Pakman began a series of interviews on prominent figures in #GamerGate by interviewing Brianna Wu with questions about the hashtag and her death threats she had received. Towards the end of the interview, Brianna accused David of conducting a hit piece interview.[52]
- On October 28th, Breitbart reporter Milo Yiannopoulos was interviewed during which he gave his side of the story and his view on #Gamergate.[42]
- On October 29th, Pro-Gamergater Jennie Bharaj was interviewed to discuss her views on the issues of video game journalistic corruption and fraud.[43]
- On October 30th, David interviewed Gaming comentator and critic John Bain (TotalBiscuit) to discuss #GamerGate, Journalistic ethics, harassment, gifts, bribes and more.[44]
- On November 4th, Pakman interviewed "Nerd Culture" blogger Arthur Chu about #Gamergate and the critical responses towards #Tweetlikenotyourshield.[45]
- On November 5th, 8chan.co's Admin Fredderick Brennan was interviewed about his site and its relation to #Gamergate.[46]
- On November 6th, Canadian feminist and video game writer Liana Kerzner was brought on to discuss #Gamergate.[47]
- On November 7th, Matthew Rappard from The Fine Young Capitalists was interviewed to discuss their involvement in #Gamergate and the doxxing of Zoe Quinn.[48]
- On November 10th, David took a break from interviewing individuals to explain his own opinion about #GamerGate in response to comments from followers of the series (shown below).
On November 14th, CBC released an article covering #Gamergate in which they portrayed Milo Yiannopoulos and David Pakman as GamerGate Supporter and showed Pakman's video on his opinions of Gamergate while labeling Pakman as a "Harasser of Women."[54] David Pakman later released a video in response to this.[25]
Databases
On November 21st, the Independent Game Developers Association (IGDA) released an anti-gamergate Twitter blocklist bot created by Randi Harper which automatically blocked anyone who followed specific Twitter accounts the readme of the tool describes as "GG ringleaders"(shown below).[49] Due to the tool not analyzing the content of the blocked users,[50] various independent developers and the chairperson of IGDA Puerto Rico, Roberto Rosario,[51] ended up on the list. The link was taken down a day later alongside an official reply from the IGDA.[53]
“Takes a list of the supposed ringleaders of GG, looks at their follower lists. Generates a list of sheeple following more than one account, as well as a list of your followers that might be questionable. This does not rank users. It doesn't look at bios, it doesn't look at hashtags.”
On March 24th, 2015, a man named Matthew Hopkins filed a County Court claim lawsuit against the creator of the blockbot, James Billingham.[74] But the claim has been discontinued.[75]
On May 8th, 2015, a redditor named BoneGolem created the website deepfreeze.it,[71] which is designed to help consumers determine the reliability of various video game journalism sites. TechRaptor writer Allistair Pinsof claims that the site would be the future of GamerGate[72] while Jonathan Homes of Destructoid expressed concerns that it only lists negative traits and could be perceived as biased.[73]
On September 1st, 2014, a GamerGate wiki was made by a user named Drybones and hosted on the gamergate.me site,[67] which is serving as a separate database with articles and a timeline.[68] Around January 6 of 2015, WordPress user JennOfHardwie had started a list documenting cases of harassment against Gamergate.[69] On GitGud, Another database, known as the Current Happenings List[70] also attempts to detail the timeline of the event and movement. The oldest documented edit of the List dates back to October 19th, 2014, but the edit is a rename. The list itself seems to date back to August of that year as it started documenting data from that time.
#PizzaGate
On February 1st, 2015, Twitter user @KachoArinoDesu[26] tweeted a screenshot of an edited Brianna Wu tweet asking if "pineapple on pizza" was a euphemism for "penis" accompanied by the hashtag "#PizzaGate" (shown below).
That evening, GamerGate supporters tweeted various pizza-themed jokes with the hashtag, including other edited tweets by feminist figures like Anita Sarkeesian (shown below), many of which mocked GamerGate criticisms. In 24 hours, the hashtag was tweeted over 18,900 times according to the Twitter analytics site Topsy.[28] Meanwhile, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales posted several #PizzaGate tweets which were subsequently posted on the /r/KotakuInAction[29] subreddit (shown below, middle).
Also on February 1st, YouTuber MundaneMatt uploaded a video titled "WTF is #PizzaGate," which explained the origins of the hashtag and how it could be helpful for the GamerGate cause (shown below). On February 2nd, The Mirror[27] published an article about #PizzaGate.
Calgary Expo & The Honey Badger Brigade
On April 17th, 2015, a group of co-hosts of the Honey Badger Brigade (HBB), an online radio show, set up a booth at the Calgary Comics and Entertainment Expo (CalEx) at which they also sold GamerGate-related merchandise (shown below, left). That same date, the official CalEx Twitter account shared that they didn't allow a GamerGate booth after being approached by it and were looking into it.[58] According to research by pop culture website Themarysue,[59] HBB used the webcomic of one of their members to apply for vendor status and not their own site. Also according to an earlier crowdfund organised by the HBB to attend to CalEx, they were initially working in "stealth mode"[60] in order to be able to attend (shown below, right).
On April 17th, following a Q&A session at a panel event where a member of the HBB publicly disagreed with one of the panelists (recording below),[56] the HBB's booth was approached by convention staff and requested to leave. According to security staff at the expo, they had received complaints over the presence of a GamerGate booth on social media, including 25 allegations of harassment,[57] although details of these allegations remain vague. The official twitter account for CalEx released a tweet on the eviction later that day, which stated that the reason lied with their show policies.[65] The next day, the official Youtube account for the HBB uploaded a video of their member Alison Tieman, the same person who publicly disagreed with the panelist, explaining the events of that day from their perspective.[66]
On April 19th, the HBB organized a meetup in a park to not dissappoint fans of the radio show, but were shortly interrupted by the police which were allerted by the Expo's staff according to the officer at the scene.[61] On April 25th, the HBB announced they are seeking legal advice to hold the Calgary Expo accountable[62] and launched a crowdfund alongside this.[63] The events surrounding the HBB's eviction from the expo and the events following this were also discussed on Twitter under the hashtag #ExpoGate.[64]
SPJ Airplay debate
On August 15th, journalist Michael Koretzky held an event as part of the 2015 regional conference of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) at Koubek Center, Miami: Airplay (shown below), a two-session panel meant to present the pro-GamerGate side of the story to the media. The first session was about gaming media and how its journalists can do a better job. The second was about how mainstream media can and should cover online controversies. Among the panelists where Christina Hoff Sommers, Milo Yiannopoulos, Washington Examiner's Ashe Schow, Breitbart writer Allum Bokhari, and games writer Mark Ceb.[98]
Around 2:30PM, Police began clearing the Koubek Center after receiving a "credible" bomb threat. The threat was for the bomb to go off at 2:45. About 75 people were forced to wait a block and a half away while police dogs were taken inside. After the center was searched, the police said that no physical evidence was found to suggest a public threat.[99] The threat was the second in two days for the conference after organizers had the building swept on Friday. An independent security team was hired for the event and locked down the facility overnight, according to Koretzky.[100]
Despite the bomb threats, a Q&A was still held.[101]
Later, Yiannopoulos published an article on Breitbart about the remarks he wanted to make at the panel[102]
#SavePoint SXSW 2016 Panel
On October 19th, The Open Gaming Society announced their panel about "the current social-political climate of the gaming community" and "the importance of ethical integrity in gaming journalism" had been accepted for the 2016 South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW).[93] That panel would be hosted by game developer Nick Robalik, President-Elect of the Society of Professional Journalists Lynn Walsh and GamerGate supporter and adult film actress Mercedes Carrera.
On October 22nd, writer Arthur Chu tweeted that he would not be attending SXSW due to the GamerGate panel (shown below).[92]
On October 26th, SXSW[91] posted an announcement that the "SavePoint" panel had been canceled along with an anti-GamerGate panel titled "Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games" due to "numerous threats of on-site violence." The same day, The Open Gaming Society[89] posted a statement regarding the event's cancellation, revealing that they would be "organizing, funding and hosting" the panel themselves. Meanwhile, tweets containing the hashtag #gamergate and #sxsw increased dramatically according to the Twitter analytics site Topsy[90] (shown below).
On October 27th, BuzzFeed[94] announced plans to withdraw from SXSW if the conference refused to reverse its decision to cancel the two panels and published a letter sent to SXSW interactive director Hugh Forrest from BuzzFeed staff. The same day, Vox Media revealed on their tech news site The Verge[95] that they would not attend SXSW "unless it takes harassment seriously." Meanwhile, SXSW[96] published a follow-up statement responding to criticism, claiming they were "working with local law enforcement to assess the various threats" and would be "evaluating several programming solutions."
/r/KotakuInAction Discord
On July 12th, 2018, the creator of the subreddit shut down the forum, calling it a "cancerous growth" and expressing their regret of having started the subreddit. In the post, he criticized the attitudes and actions of the users of /r/KotakuInAction, the GamerGate movement and Reddit. They wrote:
"KiA is one of the many cancerous growths that have infiltrated reddit. The internet. The world. I did this. Now I am undoing it. This abomination should have always been aborted.
So in this moment with years of contemplation, I am Stopping it. I'm closing shop and I can't allow anyone to exploit my handicap. I've watched and read every day. Every single day. The mods are good at what they do, but they are moderating over a sub that should not exist. The users have created content that should not be. Topics that do not require debate. And often times molded by outside forces.
We are better than this. I should have been better than this. Just look at the comment history of any users history. The hate is spread by very few, but very often. Overwhelmingly so.
Reddit and it's Admins are Me. They are the stewards of hate and divisiveness and they let it go. They go so far as to even claim there is nothing they can do about it. Those with upvotes could have been stopped by others with equally powerful downvotes. Fallacy. 100 evil people with 100,000 upvotes can not be defeated by 100,000 with 100 downvotes.
Don't let Reddit pretend otherwise. They know what goes on here. They know everything. So either they choose to allow it, or $$$$ makes them. Corporate needs #'s. Bigger the number, the better. This is Un-American and everything wrong with what is now the inevitable result of true capitalism. 10000 people living in destitution can never effectively stand up to the .1% who control everything. Incorporation, Copyright's, monopolie a result. We are a Democratic Republic and the winners created institutions where the losers keep losing. Small business need to thrive if we are to be a healthy nation. Incorporation's will always lead to monopolies. There is no other outcome. They paid their way… invested…. into feigning the populace that they are doing what is in their best interest.
"Righting a Wrong.
Beginnings
I created KIA thinking no one would join, and when I awoke, I had many hundreds of orange-reds. "Wow, WTF did I say or do that caused this?" KiA began. I'm surprised and excited that we had over 100 users. So I began. So 'it' began. I created a few rudimentary rules and began enforcing them. The next days added a couple hundred and then a few thousand. This was becoming a monster.
The Birth
I was moderating 24/7 and it was clear that I could not sustain these rules on my own. These rules were the site rules. Don't break them and you don't get banned. It's only fair. Free speech needs protection, even unwanted and hurtful speech. Hate speech was allowed, but I was having difficulty defining everything. Does saying 'n****r' 'c**t' as a noun, the same as using it as a verb. So I began seeking help from users that I believed had the subreddit's purpose and shared my own vision for it's future.
Moderation.
I'm not sure how, but it was a success. The next top mod was an A personality and highly knowledgeable of the subs content. Amazing. Everything was going as planned. Despite JR's infiltration and attempted creation of a scandal. TwasIWhoShotJR. We began a great chat IRC and then even began livestreams. Sometimes with 'famous' guests having insane meltdowns. That was drama. Going forward We worked on creating fundamental rules and attempting to wrestle with how to define what content was acceptable. We still can't get this perfect despite public outcry and threats.
The next steps
Everything was going as planned and as its creator and top moderator, I was able to give shape and vision to it's continued future. In doing so we over moderated. At least we thought we were. Bans up the wazoo and massive amounts of removed comments. In retrospect we were mostly unable to, as users found ways around the rules. We did get better.
Hate.
This was a dark time. We were wrestling with how to control hate speech. Not only what was said, but what people could link to. KiA became infested with racism and sexism …. and other ism's ( though many ism's are not real). GG forums were created on KiwiFarms and 8chan as a result. This was the best and worst thing. The monster was now a virus. We banned links to, and then mention of certain links and topics. Now we became the enemy.
A new phase
This is when I handed over supervisory control. I really wanted to close the sub. I was in the process of until I was superseded not to. I've been wanting to close every day since. I was just too scared of the backlash. How ironic is that? I've been trying to please everyone when I should be forcing my wants and visions for the subreddit to be executed.
I rolled over and played dead.
After this, nothing much matters. I was too weak. I let the other mods dictate. My own flaws and faults compromised my ability to raise my iron fist. This was a monumental failure. I'm ASD and GAD. Many of you know this. Many of you don't believe this.
I have allowed myself confidence and an ability to assert myself. I've been captive my entire life and now I have the ability to make my own decisions and to correct my mistakes. KiA is a huge one. I think about this daily and dream about it. It's a boogeyman. The monster under my bed in my head.
Until now. KiA is one of the many cancerous growths that have infiltrated reddit. The internet. The world. I did this. Now I am undoing it. This abomination should have always been aborted.
So in this moment with years of contemplation, I am Stopping it. I'm closing shop and I can't allow anyone to exploit my handicap. I've watched and read every day. Every single day. The mods are good at what they do, but they are moderating over a sub that should not exist. The users have created content that should not be. Topics that do not require debate. And often times molded by outside forces.
We are better than this. I should have been better than this. Just look at the comment history of any users history. The hate is spread by very few, but very often. Overwhelmingly so.
Reddit and it's Admins are Me. They are the stewards of hate and divisiveness and they let it go. They go so far as to even claim there is nothing they can do about it. Those with upvotes could have been stopped by others with equally powerful downvotes. Fallacy. 100 evil people with 100,000 upvotes can not be defeated by 100,000 with 100 downvotes.
Don't let Reddit pretend otherwise. They know what goes on here. They know everything. So either they choose to allow it, or $$$$ makes them. Corporate needs #'s. Bigger the number, the better. This is Un-American and everything wrong with what is now the inevitable result of true capitalism. 10000 people living in destitution can never effectively stand up to the .1% who control everything. Incorporation, Copyright's, monopolie a result. We are a Democratic Republic and the winners created institutions where the losers keep losing. Small business need to thrive if we are to be a healthy nation. Incorporation's will always lead to monopolies. There is no other outcome. They paid their way… invested…. into feigning the populace that they are doing what is in their best interest.
I may be ASD, but I'm no longer a victim. Shout out to /r/The_Donald/ . Compared to you, I'm a Mini-Me. I'm scratching an itch, yet you are a viral cancer that is destroying the minds of millions of Reddit users each day; And they allow it. They, in fact, have to. Conflict breeds users and drives viewer counts, driving advertisers and required profits. After all, who would invest in a company that loses money? Reddit is only a small problem, but I'll end it here. Those with power use it to create a stronger hold on that power. Human nature to be #1.
At least Reddit is sooo overly tolerant that they could never remove this post.
https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote
https://www.indivisible.org/ Thanks to (ironcally) Google. This looks like and sounds like a rant. It's not. It's a warning. Free the free press. The 1st amendment demands it. KotakuinAction has beed a wildly successful failure in this endevour of The 1st. Thanks /r/The_donald . You've shown me the darkness. I'm hoping to pave your way to the light."
The post has since been removed from /r/KotakuInAction and placed on /r/drama.[104]
Following the post, the subreddit was briefly shutdown.
That day, /r/KotakuInAction moderator HandofBane posted about the outage.[105] They wrote:
"So, some of you may have noticed (as the 60-ish modmails asking what happened can affirm) that the sub went private for about 45-50 minutes not too long ago. Here's what happened:
david-me apparently went off the deep end, making a long screed post on another sub about nuking KiA as he made KiA private, kicked the entire mod team, nuked the CSS, and generally made a clusterfuck of things. Thankfully, an amazing admin was online who helped restore everything, and has locked david's permissions to mail-only while an investigation goes on into the matter later before they decide if anything further needs to be done. We don't expect him to stay at the top of the list afterward, but that's more in the admins' hands than ours right now. He was supposed to act as an emergency failsafe in case one of us did what he did to the sub – clearly he failed at that role.
In the mean time, we are sorting out what's still broken and what we can fix easily. Flairs may not be fully back, but some appear to be. We are seeing what else isn't quite working right, if you notice something not working how it did yesterday, please drop us a modmail so we can look into fixing it.
Apologies to everyone for the downtime, hopefully this gets sorted out to where that can never happen again."
Search Interest
External References
[1] Adam Baldwin GamerGate Tweet – Adam Baldwin #GamerGate Tweet
[2] MundaneMatt's DMCA page screenshot – MundaneMatt DMCA
[3] MundaneMatt's Re-uploaded Video – MundaneMatt's Re-uploaded Video
[4] Kotaku – Stephen Totilo
[6] Zoe's Questionable Patreon Supporters – Zoe's Questionable Patreon Supporters
[7] Patricia Hernandez's Journalistic Integrity – Patricia Hernandez's Journalistic Integrity
[8] Robin Arnott and Indiecade Corruption – Robin Arnott and Indiecade Corruption
[9] Polygon Unprofessional – Polygon Unprofessional
[10] Tumblr (via Wayback Machine) – GamerGate Harassment
[11] Polygon – On Patreon Support
[12] Kotaku Comment Moderation – Kotaku Comment Moderation
[13] Topsy via Wayback Machine – #GamerGate
[14] Storify (via Wayback Machine) – Zoe IRC Allegations
[15] Open Letter To The Gaming Community – Open Letter To The Gaming Community
[16] Gamasutra Article (via Wayback Machine) – Ben Quintero's Gamasutra Article
[17] Twitter – #Gameovergate
[18] The Escapist (via Wayback Machine) – Exclusive: 4Chan and Quinn Respond to Gamergate Chat Logs
[19] IRC chatlog from Aug 18 to Sep 6 – Archive of Chatlogs
[20] Breitbart- Exposed-the-secret-mailing-list-of-the-gaming-journalism-elite
[21] Wikipedia – Arthur (TV Series)
[22] Reddit – "I am Julian Assange. AMA about my new book, When Google Met WikiLeaks.
[23] Twitter – #Reddit "shadowbans" user for asking #Assange a question about censorship on Reddit. #GamerGate
[24] Twitter- #GamerGate'ers should know that the pattern of censorship & cronyism they see is mirrored at the very top. Level up:…
[25] David Pakman Show – CBC Labels David Pakman 'Harasser of Women' for GamerGate Interviews?
[26] Twitter – @KachoArinoDesu
[27] The Mirror – What is PizzaGate
[28] Topsy via Wayback Machine – #PizzaGate
[29] Reddit – Jimmy Wales joins in on the Pizzagate fun
[30] Archive.Today – Oppressed GamerGater
[31] Memegenerator.net – Oppressed GamerGater Meme
[32] TemplatesForPowerpoint.com (via Wayback Machine) – Powerpoint Autism Symptoms
[33] Spacekatgal – Related Tweet
[34] Reddit – Claiming that you are being oppressed by the 'Oppressed Gamergater' meme
[35] Reddit – 'Oppressed Gamergater' meme created by SJW's is co-opted by gamers
[36] Twitter – #StopGamerGate2014
[37] Huffington Post live – What is #GamerGate? HUFFPOST Live
[38] Wikipedia Talk Page:Gamergate_controversy – Jimmy Wales tells Tarc to refrain from further editing of the page
[39] Wikipedia Talk Page:Jimmy Wales(archive177) – Jimmy Wales tells Ryulong to step away from further editing of the page due to his animosity towards David Uuerbach
[40] Negative reactions on the MSNBC interview – Negative reactions on the MSNBC interview
[41] Reddit – r/GamerGhazi – I'm Ryulong
[42] David Pakman Show – Nero / Milo Investigating Brianna Wu Restraining Order
[43] David Pakman Show – Jennie Bharaj Wants An Apology
[44] David Pakman Show – TotalBiscuit on Ethics, Was Offered Free Stuff for Reviews
[45] David Pakman Show – Arthur Chu Angry with Interviewer, Defends Tactics
[46] David Pakman Show – 8Chan Admin 'Hotwheels' Denounces Brianna Wu Doxxing & Harassment
[47] David Pakman Show – Liana Kerzner Says Sexism IS an Issue, BUT…
[48] David Pakman Show – TFYC Deny Knowing Details of Zoe Quinn Doxxing
[49] IGDA – Online Harassment Recource
[50] Techraptor – IGDA names over 10 000 people the worst offenders of online harassment
[52] Twitter – @davidparkmanshow (27 Oct 2014)
[53] Blogjob – IGDA founder responds to indie devs being blocked on #gamergate blocklist
[54] Youtube – CBC's report on #gamergate
[55] Reddit – reply to 'I am Julian Assange. AMA about my new book, 'When Google Met WikiLeaks.'
[56] Youtube – Women in Comics: Panel discussion in full
[57] Honey Badger Brigade – Go home gamer girl
[58] Twitter – @Calgaryexpo
[59] Themarysue.com – Galgary Expo Gamergate Evicted
[60] Feedthebadger.com (via Wayback Machine) – Badgers Gone Wild Calgary Expo Style
[61] Youtube – Honeybadgers Police Encounter with cleaned up sound
[62] Honey Badger Brigade – HBB seeking legal redress against calgary expo
[63] Feedthebadger.com (via Wayback Machine) – Honey Badger Brigade Legal Fund
[65] Twitter – @Calgaryexpo
[66] Youtube – Alison Tieman's Explanation
[67] Wiki.Gamergate.me (via Wayback Machine)
[68] Gamergate.me (via Wayback Machine)
[69] Wordpress (via Wayback Machine) – Gamers Discussing #GamerGate Scandal Are Being Harassed; Where’s the Coverage? This Article Will Be Regularly Updated With Documented Harassment Of Gamers.
[70] GitGud – Current Happeneings List
[72] TechRaptor – Deep Freeze could be the future of GamerGate
[73] Destructoid – A Pokédex of game journalists that only lists negative traits?
[74] Matthew Hopkins News – GoFundMe – Back My Claim Against the Block Bot
[75] Matthew Hopkins News – Discontinuing County Court Claim, Leaving ICO Running
[76] Kotaku – In recent days I've been asked several times
[77] Kotaku – The Indie Game Reality TV Show That Went To Hell
[78] NPR – #Gamergate Controversy Fuels Debate On Women And Video Games
[79] The Christian Science Monitor – Gamergate and the new horde of digital saboteurs
[80] PC Mag – Everything You Never Wanted to Know About GamerGate
[81] Boston.com – Video Game Developer: Twitter Rape, Death Threats Forced Me From Home
[82] The Washington Post – Gamergate targets Felicia Day after she expresses fear of being targeted
[83] The Colbert Report – OCTOBER 29, 2014 – JILL LEPORE
[84] The Verge – Stephen Colbert takes on Gamergate with Anita Sarkeesian
[85] The Washington Post – How media critic Anita Sarkeesian turned Stephen Colbert into a feminist
[89] The Open Gaming Society via Wayback Machine – [#SavePoint] Dear Community
[90] Topsy – #gamergate #sxsw
[91] SXSW (via Wayback Machine) – Strong Community Management – why we canceled two panels for sxsw 2016
[92] Twitter – @arthur_affect
[93] Twitter – OPGamingSociety
[94] BuzzFeed – BuzzFeed To Withdraw From SXSW Over Canceled Gaming Panels
[95] The Verge – Vox Media and The Verge will not attend SXSW unless it takes harassment seriously
[96] SXSW (via Wayback Machine) – Safety is a top priority and so is your voice
[97] Youtube – The internet ruined my life
[98] Reason – Bomb Threat Disrupts SPJ Airplay #GamerGate Debate
[99] Local10 – No explosives found after bomb threat made at Koubek Center
[100] Upi – Bomb threat interrupts GamerGate panel at journalism conference
[101] Youtube – #Gamergate #SPJAirplay Event Second Panel after Bomb Scare
[102] Breitbart – What I Meant To Say At SPJ Airplay, Before That Bomb Threat
[103] Reddit – /r/KotakuInAction
[104] archive.is – Righting a Wrong. : Drama
[105] Reddit – I need about a gallon of rum after that mess [Meta]
