Inside Gamergate

by James Desborough

  Still, this demonstrates a genuine – and successful – effort by Gamergate to prove their good faith and to take collective action against actual harassers, even if it was ignored.

  Trolling

  Trolling is a venerable institution online, going back at least as far as Usenet. The term's usage has changed over that time, but Internet veterans and people steeped in Internet culture still use it in its original meaning. I would define that as:

  “The practice of creating – usually insincere - provocative posts online to garner an emotional reaction and create controversy.”

  For example, back in the day, you might have gone onto a Christian newsgroup on Usenet and posted a polemic in favour of abortion, then sit back and wait for the reaction. Trolls 'win' by creating that emotional reaction in people and the bigger the reaction, the more they win. They also win by fooling people into taking the ridiculous seriously.

  Trolls are often attracted to drama. In situations where people are already arguing and fighting with one another, they're far more vulnerable to trolling and far more willing to take extreme points of view at face value. This is especially true if it paints the enemy in a bad light. They're also far more willing to go along with extreme points of view expressed, or apparently expressed, by their side.

  'Troll' has also become a go-to insult used to dismiss anyone who disagrees with you, as noted by Richard Dawkins[131]. It is not, truly, that difficult to discern a troll from a sincere dissenter. Mistakes will be made, but it usually takes only a few interactions, or a couple of clicks to discern the real nature of a troll account. Dismissing those dissenters on the grounds of being a 'troll' is a cheap, dismissing tactic. Equally bemusing is when people take obvious trolls seriously, as an excuse to push their agenda.

  The tactic for dealing with trolls has always been 'don't feed the troll'. In short, if you don't reply to them and don't give them attention then they get nothing out of it, and they drift away. This works. It is the only way of dealing with trolls that doesn't compromise the free Internet. Other methods of dealing with trolling tend to rely on compromising the things that make the Internet such a powerful and free place, anonymity for example. Despite this, there has increasingly, and for some time, been push-back against this sage advice, particularly from feminist commentators and those pushing to censor and control the Internet[132].

  Even worse, the high speed, click-driven, attention economy of the current news cycle has made a paradise for trolls. The media are looking for absurd and extreme points of view to parade on the social media freak show in hopes of going viral. This has, increasingly, resulted in even credible news companies being taken for a ride[133].

  Even worse still, there is increasingly a tendency for commentators and columnists to engage in 'symbiotic trolling'. Rather than 'don't feed the troll' people seeking an adverse reaction parade their weaknesses and buttons to be pushed in public. They write deliberately nasty and provocative articles (essentially trolling or 'baiting' themselves) and then reap the adverse and troll reactions as justification and to draw more attention and sympathy. This is a kind of extreme version of Lewis' Law – itself already logically invalid. Sadly, this troll-farming works, even when the trolls are exposed as the insincere, pathetic human beings that they are[134].

  Needless to say, the Gamergate controversy attracted a lot of trolling against all sides. It was perfect as an environment for the trolls to operate in. People were angry in large numbers about things they genuinely cared about, it was all over the Internet and getting into the media – maximum potential exposure. It even began to create law enforcement reactions at an even larger scale, further spurring trolls to up their game.

  Gamergate found itself, in no small part, in conflict with what might be termed '3.5 wave feminism'. Gamergate was ruthlessly egalitarian and truly diverse in just about every way, while this emergent new wave of feminism was – and is – steeped in a victimhood culture. It acts as though the world is just as dangerous for women as it was in the 1950s. It's also characterised by 'ironic misandry', sexism, racism and other bigotry – just against culturally acceptable targets.

  An online feminist or other social activist might as well be shooting up a flare asking to be trolled and then explaining, in detail, exactly how to best get them into a tizzy. Trolls and bullies will home in on whatever weakness you might have. If you're fat they will call you fat, if you're gay, they'll use homophobic insults, if you're black they'll call you a nigger. It's all meaningless, they're just going for whatever will make you lose it, but the art of discerning trolls and understanding that's what they're about, seems to have been lost.

  Those opposing Gamergate repeatedly took trolls seriously – when it suited them - dismissed honest interlocutors as trolls – when it suited them – and blamed Gamergate for every anonymous troll that ever called them names. It was thoroughly dishonest, and even when this disingenuous treatment of trolling was exposed (such as Jace Connors), somehow nothing changed. If anything the trolling was taken even more seriously. Even entirely spurious and hyperbolic death threats from anonymous trolls were taken seriously, used to justify police bodyguards and increased security measures for people like Anita Sarkeesian even with no credible threats[135].

  The trolling around Gamergate was, perhaps, the thing that most derailed the movement and gave its opponents the most ammunition in the public eye, frustrating as this was for people that understand the Internet. It allowed Gamergate to be mischaracterized as a hate group to people who didn't understand the Internet. It allowed trolls to just drop the tag into whatever they did to stir the pot, knowing people would take it seriously and spread it around.

  Trolls can, however, 'use their powers for good'. High profile trolling – such as that done by Godfrey Elfwick and similar – has exposed problems with the news media, their dishonesty, credulity and lack of research. People involved in Gamergate also used trolling tactics to expose genuine abuse – as we'll discover later. Most recently a furore around Far Cry 5 was revealed, entirely, as a trolling effort. That, in turn, exposed double standards in game criticism especially about race issues[136]. Shockingly, nobody learned from this, and the same trolling effort was seemingly repeated about news of a new Wolfenstein game[137]. All of this despite protests about Resident Evil 5's African setting being taken seriously[138]. Similar accusations have dogged previous Far Cry games, despite their exotic settings and strong, ethnic supporting casts, perhaps the reason Ubisoft chose white Americans for their villains this time around.

  I mostly find trolling tiresome, since it gets in the way of discussion. I'm pretty good, if not infallible, at detecting trolls and know enough to mute rather than block them. The devaluing of the term to mean anyone who disagrees with you, it's use to dismiss honest and sincere arguments is the worst part. While trying to engage honestly and sincerely I, myself, have often been called a troll. I think it merely salves people's consciences and egos to be able to dismiss anyone and everyone this way, especially if they have good arguments. Genuine harassment is a terrible thing that I've been on the sharp end of as well, to conflate that with trolling seems utterly disingenuous.

  Sock Puppets

  Sock Puppeting is creating fake accounts, in addition to your main account. People use these kinds of accounts for all sorts of things. Unscrupulous authors, podcasters and video makers use sock puppet accounts to boost their review counts and vote up their content. Political movements can be astroturfed and made to seem more popular by legions of fake accounts. It has even been suggested that intelligence organisations use legions of sockpuppet accounts in comment sections and on social media to try and manipulate public opinion, something leant more credibility by social experiments on Facebook.

  About Gamergate, people within the movement were constantly accused of using or being sock puppet accounts, especially regarding the NotYourShield tag. It seemed that anti-Gamergate simply refused to believe that any 'marginalised' people could take up against t
hem. They couldn't seem to comprehend that there were people – of minority status – who felt represented, didn't care about representation, or who just wanted to be treated the same as everyone else.

  This forced women and minorities associated with Gamergate to 'out' themselves by posting photos, which in turn made them more vulnerable to being doxxed and otherwise attacked by their opponents. The idea behind this dismissal, 'internalised misogyny', or calling people 'Uncle Toms', relates to the Marxist idea of 'false consciousness'[139]. This is the patronising (if occasionally valid) idea that people don't know what's good for them. That they act against their self interest. Regarding the minorities in Gamergate, it was more to do with a focus on egalitarianism and meritocracy amongst their number. This not that surprising in a community that has always been welcoming, and in which 'git gud' is the catchphrase for anyone trying – and failing – to beat a game.

  Rather than tackle the opposing viewpoint in any meaningful way, it was much easier to pretend these people weren't real. When they proved themselves to be real, it was far simpler to marginalise them – ironically – or to threaten their jobs and positions[140]. The hate they got was far more real and far more palpable than that alleged to be going the other way.

  Meanwhile, there were at least a few confirmed cases of anti-Gamergate people fabricating abuse against themselves, especially when they messed up and forgot to log into different accounts. One of the chief examples of this was Brianna Wu, who posted a steam thread harassing herself, later removed and also, later, claimed to be sarcastic self-deprecation. Nobody bought that excuse, and it helped highlight how being abused and harassed online was becoming a cottage industry, chasing 'pity bucks' and publicity off the back of it. We've seen similar problems bleeding out of internet conflicts into the real world, where a disappointing lack of genuine bigotry seems to lead people to create it themselves, the ends justifying the means[141].

  Paedophiles and Sex Criminals, Everywhere

  One of the top accusations against Gamergate was that it was a misogynistic, sexist hate group that was a danger to women. On that basis Gamergaters were barred from hosting panels at conventions, asking questions, cosplaying and even mentioning Gamergate when present at conventions. A lot of these accusations came from fairly prominent male feminists embedded in journalism, social media and the Social Justice organisations that took such issue with Gamergate.

  The only crime – so far as I am aware – to be linked to Gamergate was when Ethan Ralph of the Ralph Retort (a muckraking website that parasitically exploited Gamergate) woke up from a drunken stupor and punched a policeman. Ralph had already long been disowned from the majority of Gamergate – despite producing some useful exposés from time to time, and most Gamergaters had distanced themselves from him[142]. Still, an act of drunken stupidity on the part of one individual is not especially damning.

  On the other hand, a particular pattern of behaviour has emerged amongst Gamergate critics, to the point where – if the crimes hadn't been so horrible – it could be seen as a dark joke.

  Time after time Gamergate's Social Justice critics have been outed or arrested as sex offenders [143].

  Delon Richmond, a moderator for Anita Sarkeesian's Twitch channel, was revealed to be a convicted Paedophile [145].

  Devin Faraci, a movie reviewer, decried Gamergate as being a bunch of basement-virgins who didn't know how to relate to women. He was forced to step down after it emerged he had sexually assaulted several women.

  Glenn Fleischman, an outspoken opponent of Gamergate, was accused of being a 'creeper' for bringing up his polyamorous open marriage, unbidden [144].

  Jamie Kilstein, a feminist writer and radio host who told his listeners that Gamergate was about sexism and not ethics. He was fired from his podcast after accusations of sexual abuse came out.

  Juan Thompson, who once wrote for The Intercept, wrote an article accusing Gamergate of being a hate group that targeted marginalised communities. He was later arrested for faking bomb threats in the name of his ex-girlfriend and was exposed for filing fake stories.

  Leland Yee, a former Democratic senator who had previously, frequently, accused games of encouraging violence and who had bandwagoned onto Anita Sarkeesian's crusade, ended up disgraced for bribery and arms trafficking. Not a sex-related accusation, but sufficiently ironic to be worth mentioning.

  Matt Hickey, a journalist who described Gamergate members as 'future rapists', turned out to be a serial rapist running a fake porn company.

  Nafedude, a very active and vicious anti-Gamergate slacktavist on Twitter publicly admitted to sexually assaulting his sister [146].

  Robert Maemolejo, a member of Zoe Quinn's Crash Override Network anti-harassment group, was accused of rape by twenty different women. He had previously accused many involved in Gamergate of being misogynists, sexist and anti-woman.

  Several anti-Gamergate male feminists were implicated in the attempted doxxing of Gamergate proponent 'Mombot'.

  Perhaps most notoriously of all, the prominent anti-Gamergate voice 'Sarah Butts' was outed as a software pirate and paedophile after they were investigated and chat logs were leaked [147].

  Several of these have been marked by a sudden double standard from the professed 'listen and believe' attitude otherwise prevalent in Social Justice circles. Apparently one should not simply believe accusations without question after all, at least when it's someone you like or someone who claims a minority status.

  Does this demonstrate that all of Gamergate are good, decent, law-abiding people or that all male feminists are secret rapists? Of course not, but it does show that, at least as far as these examples go, some people are covering for something and signalling virtue.

  Just while I've been writing this book, yet another case has come out. 'Amir0x' a former moderator at the site Neogaf, and a vocal opponent of Gamergate has been arrested on charges of the possession of child pornography. As Gamergaters like to say, 'the ride never ends'.

  Doxxing

  Doxxing is the practice of releasing someone's personal details to expose them for their activities online. This can be their home address, their phone number, their work contact details, their family members, profiles and more. This opens people up to increased harassment, nuisance calls and even being fired from work for things said and done outside work, anonymously online. This last one is particularly harmful as businesses tend to react in a knee-jerk manner.

  All sides had members who were doxxed during the height of Gamergate, but this primarily seems to have been done by third party trolls. Both sides publicly disavowed doxxing, but doxxing took place anyway. Some on both sides also endorsed doxxing, privately or semi-privately. This helped fuel some splits within Gamergate.

  The Social Justice Warriors seemed to consider it a valid tactic in some instances, especially given the way they repeatedly went after people's jobs. Apparently, there were 'no bad tactics, only bad targets'[148]. Indeed, some of the most prominent anti-Gamergate people were discovered to be engaging in these very tactics through the CON leaks and ZachAttack.

  Gamergate, through being much more steeped in an Internet culture of anonymity, was a great deal more angry about doxxing and very much against it. When Brianna Wu's dox were posted on 8chan, board members repeatedly spammed the conversation thread to push the information off the server. The Gamergate Harassment Patrol made doxxing a particular target of its actions. Those who engaged in or supported doxxing came in for massive condemnation by the majority of Gamergate and ended up splintering off into the more extreme 'Gamergate Revolt' as the rest of Gamergate would not tolerate them. A lot of doxxing and hacking seemed to stem from the non-Gamergate 'Baphomet' board – but Gamergate was made to carry the can for it, much to Baphomet's frequent delight.

  For me, doxxing, and the controversy around it underlines the societal crisis we're facing as our public and private lives collide. People's social media profiles are being trawled by companies before they hire them. People ar
e being fired over opinions expressed outside of work, on their own time, and their personal, ideological beliefs. This drives a desire and need for anonymity, but that anonymity can be exploited by genuine abusers. It seems to me that there needs to be a reassertion of the right to a private life and a division between your work life and personal life. It shouldn't matter whether someone is a sieg-heiling stormtrooper or a Starbucks-smashing Antifa so long as they don't hurt anyone while they're making you coffee.

  Personal Censorship

  I've experienced the harassment and wrath of the Social Justice Mob myself, even long before Gamergate. In 2012 I wrote a blog post entitled 'In Defence of Rape'. This, of course, wasn't defending the real, physical act of rape. Rather it was defending the use of rape in stories, games and other media as a topic for examination and dramatic use. I'd already been running into the nasty end of the Social Justice mob since around 2010, but this incident is what boiled it over. Before this, they had been a tiny fringe of lunatics that nobody worth a damn took seriously.

  As a result of that blog, people put together petitions to have me fired or to deny me work from companies that had employed me freelance in the past. They accused me of being a rape apologist and even, at the height of the nonsense, of being a rapist. Completely without evidence.

  I have no idea where that came from.

  People who never knew me pretended they knew me and made up stories. All of this was uncritically believed. I got messages and emails threatening me and threatening to rape my wife and me to 'see how I liked it'. These were spurious trolls of course, but it was the kind of thing the people freaking out at me claimed to be against but unleashed on me.