http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/brianna-wu-fbi-death-threats-gamergate/
>I need to tell you something terrifying. If someone threatens to murder you on the Internet, the odds are all but certain that law enforcement will do nothing. It doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter how serious the threats are. Help is not coming.
This is because law enforcement needs a reasonable threat, something called "clear and present danger." Words on the internet don't really amount to much, and for you to want help on a non-existent threat is a waste of everyone's time. You surely cannot be this stupid after all these threats.
If someone truly wanted to murder you, 1) they wouldn't tell anyone, and 2) they'd have already tried. Isn't too hard to figure this whole process out, but maybe I've read too much murder mystery and real crime stories to deduce this.
>I should know, I’ve had 49 death threats in the last six months. My name is Brianna Wu, I’m the head of development of Giant Spacekat. We are a team of mostly women that make story-based games. Since October, I’ve been targeted relentlessly by the hate group known as Gamergate, a mob of extremist fringe gamers hellbent on silencing prominent women in the game industry.
a) Anyone popular, or anyone who's had anything to say on the internet gets death threats, like myself, and many other youtubers, people with blogs, columns, etc.
b) Twitter is not exactly a place of sound mind and calm debate. Medium is the message, and all that. Best not to take it so seriously.
And for you to make these claims, you must:
I) First prove that Gamergate is a hate mob
II) Then prove that it's full of fringe gamers
III) Then prove that it's hellbent on silencing prominent women in the game industry. Also explain how it intends to do that, since I haven't heard or seen that happening at all for 7 months.
You also might want to stop harassing yourself.
And if you think you're a "prominent woman in the game industry"? I believe you've already listened to Roberta Williams
https://twitter.com/jaredbrickey/status/529251683298471936
I've oodles of evidence showing it's a diverse group of men and women from all sorts of sexual and ethnic backgrounds, but I believe you're already aware of that.
No one is stopping women, or men, or anyone for that matter, from allowing prominent women in the game industry to...communicate? I don't know what you're talking about, and I'm sure social media platforms would like to know how this is even possible.
Please explain to me, how, a bunch of internet trolls, are stopping you, or any other women in gaming, from doing your job. Cause the only thing I see is your patreon, and your professional victim complex.
>As my dog Crash was dying in December, Gamergate sent me pictures of mutilated puppies and kittens to emotionally terrorize me. They threatened to detonate bombs at PAX East if I attended. When I speak at colleges, I look under the stage with a flashlight. Between Zoe Quinn, Anita Sarkeesian, and myself, they have sent hundreds of specific, violent death threats.
Evidence, please.
>If someone threatens to murder you on the Internet, the odds are all but certain that law enforcement will do nothing.
This is because they're trolls. They're just trying to get a rise out of you. It seems to be working. Usually, an experience that is repeated over a large period of time decreases it's emotional reaction. So unless you're having nervous and psychotic fits of epilepsy every morning, I suggest you go back to game making, and provide some evidence on your claims.
Here are the facts:
1) 100% of those messages are untrue.
Here's my suggestion:
1) Stop listening to 100% of them.
>Even more disturbing than the threats is the reaction from law enforcement, which has been nothing. Justice for all does not apply when women use the Internet.
As I stated before in my first response, law enforcement needs to be able to see a reasonable threat. Anyone on the internet has the freedom to say whatever they like (within the Community Guidelines/ToS of that communication service provider, e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc.) The laws on the books are very clear regarding freedom of speech. This means, yes, they can make death and bomb threats, as ugly as that is.
Now, if you're implying that that shouldn't be allowed? You need to target specific platforms of such communications, or, try to get the 1st Amendment amended.
>That may be about to change. My Massachusetts house representative, Katherine Clark, has had enough. A former prosecutor who has dealt with domestic violence cases, she heard my story and wondered why nothing had been done. Recently, she held a meeting with the FBI, trying to assess how seriously they were taking my case.
Mostly a waste of time which will do absolutely nothing, but I'm curious what kind of grand plan they think they'll have. I'm sure the taxpayers will love it.
>Her message for law enforcement is clear, “The FBI needs to make Gamergate a priority.”
They need to monitor the hashtag daily? Don't they do that already? Unless a new bill is being introduced to start policing the internet, nothing's going to happen. (I hear those SOPA/PIPA bills aren't very popular with the electorate.)
And what about people not under the FBI's jurisdiction? Shall this be a global policing of free speech? How far are you willing to go before the FBI "does something"? Let's protest outside the next G8 or what not.
And what exactly do you want the FBI to do? Find people who wrote negative Tweets and charge them with...what, exactly?
>The hate group Gamergate exploded
Prove to me it's a hate group, when they've donated to charities (some promoting women in gaming) and have fought for ethics in journalism since the beginning.
http://gamergate.me/charity/
https://medium.com/@kindraness/5-benefits-of-gamergate-that-shouldn-t-be-ignored-c8336269db26
http://wiki.gamergate.me/index.php/GamerGate
http://wiki.gamergate.me/index.php?title=GamerGate_Achievements
Notice the list of accomplishments are all related to charity, the removal of funding from certain sites, bad characters and catching their behavior (see Zoe Quinn http://www.crimeandfederalism.com/2014/12/margaret-pless-zoe-quinn.html), and of course, ethics in journalism
>in the national consciousness in October when they made threats against me that went viral. This group promising to restore ethics in game journalism vowed that my dead,
Prove threats were made by members of #gamergate.
Promises? Where and when did anyone promise? While some small victories have been achieved in the policies being changed on certain websites (see the link above), it's an ongoing, watchdog-like struggle. Which is why #gamergate is still going strong.
>mutilated corpse would be on the front page of Jezebel. They swore that I would be choked to death with my husband’s severed genitalia.
Stop listening to the trolls.
>Gamergate is so infamous that they’ve even made a Law and Order: SVU episode, “The Intimidation Game,“ where a character based on me, Sarkeesian, and Quinn that is kidnapped and sexually assaulted. The most surreal moment of my life was seeing a character based on me get my same death threats word for word.
And anyone with half a brain, or even a causal gamer, can see just how ridiculously bad the plot and references were. It was more of a parody than an infamous depiction of anything resembling gaming, gamers, or whatever gamer culture is. (My opinion on prime time police procedurals having anything to do with reality is a whole other topic.)
Additionally, you need to get over yourself and this professional victim blaming. I would think if you're that serious you'd be better than that.
>Here’s what the public doesn’t know about this threat. I know who sent it to me. The Saturday after this happened, I was contacted by an extremely credible source. Their voice shook with fear as they told me this person was “fucking psychotic.” They told me they were terrified and hoped law enforcement would act quickly for their safety and mine.
>I know the name of the man that sent me the “dead mutilated corpse,” threat. I have specific information about this man’s location police can use to prosecute him. I contacted the FBI with this information the Saturday after these tweets went viral, expecting a quick arrest.
>But nothing happened. That was six months ago. Their continued inaction is absolutely unacceptable.
Why? What's the story you're not telling us? How is it "absolutely unacceptable"?
...wait, are we talking about that poor excuse for a comedy routine? AKA, a hoax, by Jace Connors?
http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/24/8099531/gamergate-jace-connors-threats-comedian-hoax
>On my hard drive sits this case and five others like it, all meticulously documented. All with names, all with ample evidence for prosecutors to act on. I’ve repeatedly sent this information to law enforcement. There’s an entire employee at my company whose job it is to document these threats and respond to requests from law enforcement.
So you're paying someone to...copy and paste screen caps of people saying bad things to you? Jesus, how much money do you have?
Brianna, here's an idea. Stop giving a shit. Make your games. Don't listen to anyone else except yourself. You'll lead a much happier, productive live. We'd all appreciate it.
>A look at the statistics on online harassment is depressing. Legal expert Danielle Citron has documented only 10 cases of law enforcement prosecuting cyber-stalking between 2010 and 2013. That’s out of 2.5 million estimated cases, according to Department of Justice statistics.
>This isn’t a situation where we need new laws passed. According to Citron, the laws are very clear here. It is a crime “to transmit threats of bodily injury in interstate commerce.” The problem is that law enforcement has no idea how to react to these crimes.
So you don't want new laws or stricter rules on websites or communication systems...you want what, exactly? Police to just start arresting people for saying mean things?
>I now know more police officers that work in Arlington, Mass., than I do people that live on my block. They’ve been extremely polite and professional when I contact them with threats, but it’s also clear they’re not in a position to act. Many do not even know what Twitter is or what an IP address is. And, to be fair, local police are understandably focused on keeping local order.
Yes, police, FBI, follow strict guidelines and don't act on personal vendettas, moral codes, or other such nonsense.
>That leads to the question: Whose job is it to prosecute these threats? As a former prosecutor, Rep. Katherine Clark seems to feel this is the jurisdiction of the FBI. But among the FBI’s 15,000 agents that are funded through your tax dollars and mine, there doesn’t seem to be any division specifically tasked with prosecuting these crimes.
Considering the threats aren't credible, no one. If you've been getting so many threats and sending them to authorities, and they haven't acted: doesn't that tell you that professional law enforcement doesn't see a problem? Are you not listening to them?
If you're trying to tell me the FBI are wrong, in what way? You haven't explained that at all. It's just your opinion, and you're not even offering an alternative. You just want senders of negative Tweets to be "prosecuted".
So, let's say these people are "prosecuted". What are these people going to be charged with?
>There should be. Gamergate has grown into a hate group that threatens the stability of the $60 billion a year game industry. They stopped the women of my company, Giant Spacekat, from showing our upcoming game Revolution 60 at PAX East.
1) Prove Gamergate has grown into a hate group. First to yourself, oh logical game developer.
Also, $80 billion. That's a lot of money, and one of the the many reasons #gamergate wants ethics in journalism.
Brianna, if you want to know why people get harassed online, it's this: when they say and do stupid shit. (Hint: mirror.) Other reasons involve being popular, being controversial, being for or against something, or having a pulse. Which category do you think you fit into?
>The FBI is tasked with prosecuting domestic terrorism. Tech journalist Peter Cohen quite correctly called the actions of Gamergate “emotional terrorism,” the idea being to intimidate, bully and silence anyone speaking out for diversity in games until they quit. It’s a playbook they’ve run on countless women now.
Luckily, emotional terrorism isn't a thing, nor is it a law that can be broken. See how wonderful English is? You can't prosecute someone for a law that doesn't exist.
And many other "tech journalists" say many other differing things. Are they wrong?
Erik Kain
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2014/10/09/gamergate-is-not-a-hate-group-its-a-consumer-movement/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2014/09/04/gamergate-a-closer-look-at-the-controversy-sweeping-video-games/
Allum Bokhari
http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/25/gamergate-an-issue-with-2-sides/
Kelly Maxwell
https://medium.com/@CriticalKelly/dear-gaming-journalists-why-im-still-here-c5f4ce3fa871
Chris von Csefalvay
http://chrisvoncsefalvay.com/2014/12/07/Gamergate.html
>After Representative Clark met with the FBI, she called their reaction “disappointing,” but there’s a glimmer of hope on my side. Since that meeting, the FBI has massively stepped up communication with me. They tell me to be patient, as these cases take time to build.
>Prosecuting Gamergate is not about justice for me or the women of Giant Spacekat. It’s about introducing consequences into the equation for men that treat harassing women like a game. In Grand Theft Auto, if you threaten to murder someone, police will pursue you, you’ll get “busted,” and lose $100.
>It’s sad when Grand Theft Auto has more consequences for criminal behavior than real life.
(aside: just so you know, Brianna, Grand Theft Auto is a crime, in reality. In the game, you can get chased by cops for many more heinous crimes. See how art mirrors reality?)
I think your last sentence says it all: your grasp on reality isn't quite the same as it is for the rest of us. Definitely not the same as what the police, FBI, or any other professional law enforcement agency believe, and therein lies your apparent problem: acceptance.
One might say you need to accept that people are going to disagree with you, in less than rational ways. And that nothing is stopping you from doing your job.
But until someone points a gun to your head, you're nothing more than the Boy who Cried Wolf.
In reality, you like this. Why wouldn't you want your narrative of GamerGate being a hate group? Of course you think that the women in SVU is a depiction of you. It's all about you, Brianna.
It's all about you and your ego. Oh, and money.
Why would you want to stop being an entitled rich kid? After all, as a result of GamerGate, and patreon, you're making over $3,400 a month. Why not make money off your invented pain, or whatever you call poo-poo emails? Considering your Revolution 60 game was nothing more than an offensive joke, and did nothing to promote women or make them look strong or whatever feminist ideology you and your writers believe in (A Mike Tyson tattoo? Wow. Progressive), how else are you gonna make a buck?
Keep on trolling (yourself), Brianna. We're keeping tabs.
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