Concerning Gamergate

I'm going to get into a lot of trouble for this, but I need to get it off my chest.

At this point, most people know what Gamergate is. If you don't here's a definition I made as a tweet: "A prolonged hate campaign against women in the video game industry posing as a call for ethics in journalism."

 OK, so this thing started out when an ex-boyfriend of indie developer Zoe Quinn was whinging about his past relationship and people took it too seriously. This was followed by a number of questions regarding the ethics of video game journalism, and whether developers and journalists from games websites were getting too friendly.

Well, I guess I need to discuss ethics. I feel there should be ethics in journalism as much as any other profession, such as accountancy. In accountancy, you have numerous professional bodies like the Association of Accounting Technicians, which has a published set of professional ethics that can be adhered to in a working environment. With that in mind, let's look at journalism. There isn't the same kind of professional body you would get in journalism that you'd get in accountancy that I'm aware of. So, if there isn't a professional body, it's harder to have a strict ethical guideline which can easily govern a journalist's work.

Now the ethics discussion is out out of the way, let's talk about the bulk of this entire affair. Since the aforementioned whinging, many women involved in the video games industry have been receiving no small amount of harassment, abusive messages, and threats of physical and sexual violence. On top of that, leaks of personal information have resulted in some having to leave their homes. The most notable targets of this disgusting campaign have been Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian, whose exploration of the role of women in video games had already been met with a gross sexist backlash.

At the time of writing, Miss Sarkeesian recently had to cancel a public appearance at the Utah State University following threats of a mass shooting and the venue's refusal to carry out adequate security measures due the state's legislation regarding firearms. Less than a week ago, I myself was forced to report a troll on Twitter for making threats, although Twitter is unlikely to pursue an investigation as I was not the target of this.

Let me get something clear. I have watched Anita's work and I actually like it. This doesn't mean I necessarily agree with all the content, but I believe that she brings up some valid points, and it lends an interesting perspective that I've never really thought about. And if you don't share that view, that's fine, but it's not an excuse for death threats, or branding someone a 'femenazi' or a 'Social Justice Warrior'. The levels people are going to fight what they perceive as changes to the status quo are beyond unacceptable. It's essentially terrorism. And the fact that Miss Sarkeesian cancelled a public appearance will be regarded as a victory by the perpetrators of this vile behaviour. I think I've established which side I've taken in the argument. But harassment of any kind must be condemned wherever it appears and whatever form it takes.

This bigoted crusade has to stop. Then we can discuss ethics like mature and responsible human beings can't we? And to anybody who has been a victim of these harassment campaigns: be strong, stay safe, and don't let the bastards grind you down.