SXSW Interactive Cancels Two Panels on Harassment in Gaming, Citing Threats

[Recursion]

http://recode.net/2015/10/26/is-it-really-about-ethics-in-journalism/

The online hate mob of Gamergate is good at two things: Sending horrible threats to women online, and forcing people to shut down events featuring people critical of Gamergate.

A year ago this month, feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian was forced to cancel a speech at Utah State University because someone threatened to commit “the deadliest school shooting in America history.” Now, South By Southwest Interactive organizer Hugh Forrest says the festival is canceling two sessions on the topic that were on next year’s schedule, citing “numerous threats of on-site violence related to this programming.”

Gamergate, for the uninitiated, is a loose online community that arose last year and targeted a number of prominent women in the gaming industry. It purports to be countering what it sees as unfair criticism of gaming and gamers, specifically charges that games often depict women in demeaning ways. Its biggest homes are sites like Reddit, 4chan, 8chan and other message boards. People affiliated with Gamergate claim that they’re fighting for ethics in gaming journalism, but they’ve accomplished little aside from threatening women online and menacing advertisers on sites critical of Gamergate.

The two canceled panels — “SavePoint: A Discussion on the Gaming Community” and “Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games” — were put together by two different groups, and they were to cover different topics.

[retrowire]

1. wtf

I thought GamerGate was ridiculed into obscurity.

That shitpool is still active? Ugh...

[Recursion]

2. I fear that it will be until the 'chans are nuked from orbit (nt)

[RandySF]

3. Sort of reminds me of an incident.

Back in ancient times, kids in college used to take part in a gaming activity called "MUDDing" (don't ask, I have no idea). And a student got so upset, he showed up at someone's dorm ready to start a fight.

[Recursion]

4. One "D". Multi-User Dungeon

I still remember my login and password for the Isis MUD at Mississippi State University.

But, yeah... sometimes people went a bit off the deep end. I was in junior high, but it was mostly college freshmen, away from home for the first time, isolated (and, if they suffered from schizophrenia, just having their first symptoms).