Gamergate (harassment campaign)

"GamerGate" redirects here. For other uses, see Gamergate (disambiguation).
Gamergate
DateAugust 2014 (2014-08) – 2015 (2015)
TargetWomen in the video game industry
Attack type
Online harassment campaign
VictimsZoë Quinn, Anita Sarkeesian, Brianna Wu, and others
PerpetratorsInternet trolls, particularly from 4chan, Internet Relay Chat, and 8chan
Motive
InquiryFBI investigation

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][4] It was conducted using the hashtag "#Gamergate" primarily in 2014 and 2015.[1][5][6][7] Gamergate targeted women in the video game industry, most notably feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian and video game developers Zoë Quinn and Brianna Wu.[8][9][10][11][12]

Gamergate began with an August 2014 blog entry called "The Zoe Post" by Quinn's ex-boyfriend, which falsely insinuated that Quinn had received a favorable review because of Quinn's sexual relationship with a games journalist.[13] The blog post was spread to 4chan, where many users had previously disparaged Quinn's work. This led to a campaign of harassment against Quinn, coordinated through anonymous message boards such as 4chan, 8chan, and Reddit.[14][15] The harassment campaign expanded to target Sarkeesian, Wu, and others who defended Quinn, and included doxing, rape threats, and death threats.[16][17][18]

Gamergate proponents ("Gamergaters") claimed to be promoting ethics in video game journalism and protecting the "gamer" identity in opposition to "political correctness"[19][20][21][22] and the perceived influence of feminism and so-called social justice warriors on video game culture.[3][23] Proponents alleged there was a conspiracy between journalists and video game developers to focus on progressive social issues such as gender equality and sexism.[24][25][26] Such claims have been widely dismissed as trivial, baseless, or unrelated to actual issues of ethics in gaming and journalism.[27][28][29] Several commentators in the mass media dismissed the ethics complaints as a deliberate cover for the ongoing harassment of Quinn and other women.[30][31] Gamergaters frequently denied any such harassment took place, falsely claiming it to be manufactured by the victims.[32][33]

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.[27][34][35][36] Supporters stated that it was a social movement. However, as a movement Gamergate had no clearly defined goals, coherent message, or official leaders, making it difficult to define.[37][38][24] 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.[39][40][41][42] Gamergate has been viewed as contributing to the alt-right and other right-wing movements.[43][44]

  1. ^ a b Mortensen, Torill Elvira; Sihvonen, Tanja (2020), Holt, Thomas J.; Bossler, Adam M. (eds.), "Negative Emotions Set in Motion: The Continued Relevance of #GamerGate", The Palgrave Handbook of International Cybercrime and Cyberdeviance, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1353–1374, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-78440-3_75, ISBN 978-3-319-78440-3, retrieved September 17, 2022
  2. ^ Wells, Garrison; Romhanyi, Agnes; Reitman, Jason G.; Gardner, Reginald; Squire, Kurt; Steinkuehler, Constance (April 11, 2023). "Right-Wing Extremism in Mainstream Games: A Review of the Literature". Games and Culture. 19 (4): 469–492. doi:10.1177/15554120231167214. ISSN 1555-4120.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Emery, David (April 4, 2022). "Snopestionary: What Was 'Gamergate'?". Snopes.com. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  6. ^ Talia, Lavin (January 1, 2019). "The Fetid, Right-Wing Origins of "Learn to Code"". The New Republic. Archived from the original on February 1, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  7. ^ Romano, Aja (January 20, 2020). "What we still haven't learned from Gamergate". Vox. Archived from the original on November 4, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Murray was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Salter (2017), pp. 43–45.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference nytimes usu threat was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Coordination of harassment was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference Massanari 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  21. ^ Barnes (2018), p. 94.
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  24. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Singal October 2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  27. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Ip 2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  30. ^ Salter (2017), pp. 46, 55.
  31. ^ Mantilla (2015), p. 85.
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference HeronBelford2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ Cite error: The named reference WashPostSarkeesian was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  34. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  35. ^ Cite error: The named reference :13 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  36. ^ Cite error: The named reference Guide to Gamergate was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  37. ^ Nieborg & Foxman (2018), p. 114.
  38. ^ Cite error: The named reference OTMGrant was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  39. ^ Cite error: The named reference CSM 2015-01-20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  43. ^ Maiberg, Emanuel (February 9, 2017). "Under Trump, Gamergate Can Stop Pretending It Was About Games". Vice News. Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  44. ^ Cite error: The named reference :15 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).