#GamerGate is one of those internet scandals that are easy to miss if you aren't deeply invested in the internet, but completely impossible to ignore if you are. Some of my readers will have no idea what GamerGate is and I'm guessing that most of you will just be confused when I say it's a campaign for and against better standards in video game journalism. Sounds like something that shouldn't be on a political and warfare blog right? Normally that would be true, I care little for twitter drama, but the situation is driven by politics and, at this point, resembles a war. It's worth talking about.
So what the hell is GamerGate about? Essentially an otherwise unimportant game developer cheated on her boyfriend with 5 men in the industry, allegedly for good reviews on her game, Depression Quest (sounds like fun game right?). Her ex posted about it on Reddit, 4chan and other places until it went viral and people started to pay attention. The controversy completely exploded with alleged death threats, doxing (aka revealing personal info on the internet), censorship on a scale that has to be seen to believed, a coordinated attack on "gamers" and a massive twitter campaign for reform in the games journalism industry. Forbes has an excellent review of the scandal here if you want more background.
Sounds completely pointless right? That's what I thought too. I still play video games occasionally but the second I discovered Youtube walk-through's I left so called "gaming journalism" behind, for good reason. The industry has never been anything other then advertising for the video game companies. So on the surface it seems like I would have no interest in either side.
And I didn't until I noticed something. People on the opposite side of GamerGate were all giant hypocrites. The vast majority of counter arguments against GamerGate had nothing to do with video games journalism and everything to do with how the developer of Depression Quest (who I won't name here) and a few others on her side who were allegedly harassed. Of course, if the allegations are true, then that's unacceptable. Nobody should be harassed and sent death threats.
And there is my problem. The people that are against GamerGate are hypocrites. I won't condemn all of them because it is wrong generalize a whole group, but enough of them either have done the same things that GamerGate members have been accused of, or, at the very least, approved of it when it happened to the other side.
So my question to people who are opposed to GamerGate is this. If death threats and doxing are wrong and if internet harassment is a huge problem for feminism and women, why is it ok when other people get harassed? How about when it happens to someone you don't like or who isn't on your side? Is it still a huge problem that has to be dealt with then? What about the people that have gotten harassment like this in other situations but nobody cared? Most of these won't be GamerGate related but all of them are people that I assume that the anti-GamerGate crowd has a problem with since they are likely perceived to be "wrong" in the demographics that make up the anti-GamerGate movement.
When anti-GamerGate supporters DDOS'ed the Escapist forums where were you? Why is it ok to close threads on Reddit an 4chan and attack websites where GamerGate is being discussed? Is that not harassment too? And what about the allegations that GamerGate supporters have face the same harassment? Why was it ok to claim that every minority involved with the #notyoursheild twitter hashtag was a sock-puppet? Why was what happened to the Fine Young Capitalists ok?
Nobody rose a stink when Jack Thomson got death threats from the gaming community. Was it because he was conservative? Was it because he was wrong? Or was it ok in that particular circumstance?
When the media accused George Zimmerman of being a racist, after shooting Trayvon Martin, where were you? "But he was a killer" you say. Sure, but he had a right to a fair trial, and he almost didn't get one because people wanted him to be worse then he actually was. I remember during the trial, that there was a facebook group that literally said "Kill George Zimmerman". How is that ok? And how was it ok that when I reported it to facebook, NOTHING happened? Why is there still a page up on facebook calling for the murder of George Zimmerman?
Ok, so you don't buy that Zimmerman was a victim of harassment. That's fine. What about the completely innocent couple that had there personal information leaked by Spike Lee because he though they were George Zimmerman? Aren't they victims too? Why wasn't there a huge movement for them?
How about the various people that were harassed out of jobs because they didn't like gay marriage? People like the former CEO of Mozillia, Brendon Eich and the star of Duck Dynasty, Phil Robertson? Why is it ok to try and force those people out of their jobs when it is wrong to do the same thing to video game developers and journalists?
How about the completely innocent gun owners who had their personal information posted, "doxed" if you will, by The Journal News? Why is wrong to "dox" people who are involved in the games industry but right when it happens to permitted and legal gun owners?
Will you be there for me if someone decides they don't like what I post on my blog do the same thing that happened to all these other people?
So again, I ask the opponents of GamerGate if it was wrong for people to send death threats, cyber-harass and "dox" the developer of Depression Quest and her supporters, why was it right do it to the all of these people? Some of you may say that it wasn't right when it happened to anyone, and if you are in that group, I agree. But I am guessing that people will be making excuses. In all of those cases the victims were either conservative and/or the harassers were liberal. Regardless of whether you think those people are bad or evil, they didn't deserve this kind of harassment regardless of their politics. I won't try to pigeonhole the GamerGate movement, since there is quite a bit of leftist support for it too, but the places that it originated from trend conservative, libertarian or anarchist, hardly friends of liberalism. And it's not like certain leftists weren't harassed by other leftists as well during this debacle.
Now I am not arguing that liberals have a larger problem then conservatives for cyber harassment. It would be very easy to assemble a list where conservatives harassed liberals, and I am sure that if you want one you can find one easily enough. I am arguing that this is the new normal. Harassment is how things are done these days and it is incredibly naive to think that any one side has a monopoly on it. It's the new public shamming. If someone does something you don't like on the internet, simply harass and threaten them until they go away. If that doesn't work go after their job. It doesn't matter who they are or if they are innocent or not, as long as they are one of "them". You know "those" people. The ones you don't like. And it will happen again and again. Why? Because if history has taught us anything this past decade it is this. Terrorism works.
And there is no doubt in my mind that internet harassment, death threats and "doxing" are the poor man's terrorism. Why risk going to prison if you want to get rid of your opponents? Just use fear as a weapon. Who would want to fight people that use threats of violence, distribution of personal info and threats against your livelihood? It's a win win. When someone does they same thing you did to them you can play the victim and conveniently ignore the fact that you are just as guilty of doing the same thing.
This is the new standard kind of warfare in the Culture War. It's underground and it's for the most part non-violent but have no doubt it is a war. People like the developer of Depression Quest or the innocent gun owners that got "doxed" aren't victims. They are casualties in a war. The left and right no longer have any middle ground in America and they are openly fighting each other on the internet and are pretending that only one side is to blame. Propaganda is everywhere and everyone knows that it could be their turn next.
So what can be done? What, if anything, should be done? I don't have the answers. All I know that it's hugely hypocritical to blame one side or the other when everyone is guilty of it. This is no black and white issue, with clear good guys and bad guys, it's grey vs gray, with no one side having a monopoly on victim-hood. And I see no end to it and no victory for either side, just constant warfare and ruined lives. It's the new normal and nothing will be done to change it. Because almost everyone is guilty of it.
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