Demonstrating the keen grasp of ethics for which they are so well-known, an assortment of assholes and trolls associated with #GamerGate and 8chan are eagerly sorting through the Ashley Madison data dump in search of people to smear.
The former #GamerGate bigwig formerly known as Internet Aristocrat, now calling himself MisterMetokur, helped to lead the charge on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MisterMetokur/status/633820133065031680
https://twitter.com/MisterMetokur/status/634074455485083648
Naturally, his Tweets on the subject received dozens of likes and retweets from card-carrying, hashtag-using #GamerGaters.
On #GamerGate hub 8chan, meanwhile, the anons of /v/ and /pol/ searched the hacked database for the email addresses of game developers, academics, media professionals, and anyone else they could think of.
Over on Reddit’s KotakuInAction, the regulars rejoiced in the discovery that Gawker writer Sam Biddle, a longtime #GamerGate bete noire, had briefly had an AshleyMadison account, which he (quite plausibly) explained he had used for research.
But not everyone on KiA accepted that explanation:
![g-divA nice grandson 18 points 3 hours ago With some writers, I'd totally believe it. But Sam? Yeah, not for a second. permalinksavereportgive goldreply [–]AntonioOfVeniceRuns /r/polygon Karma King of late April 2015 17 points 3 hours ago Sam Biddle deactivated his account because he didn't need it for an affair. Women are falling over each other to do it with this very attractive man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jtmFlUg56w permalinksaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]EddieDombrowski 8 points 3 hours ago Is that even a man? He looks like a child, how old is he? Acts like one too. permalinksaveparentreportgive goldreply [–]AcherosIs fake journalism [score hidden] an hour ago I can't tell if its the audio quality, or the song over him, or what...But he literally, actually sounds like he is mentally retarded. Like, I'm not even joking or being insulting. in that video, he actually sounds like he has downs syndrome. Guys...What if...What if we've been going after someone with downs syndrome this entire time?](https://i0.wp.com/www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/biddle.png?resize=513%2C458&ssl=1)
It’s about ethics in using stolen data to humiliate enemies and make Down Syndrome jokes about them.
H/T — @srhbutts
@SFHC
I looked through all of that and I have to say that it’s absolutely hilarious Internet Asshat is using THAT particular name as his new handle. The fact that the legacy of that group is now one of those “gosh darned SJWz” who has a gaming channel that tries its best to be all inclusive, when that’s pretty much everything he stands AGAINST, is endlessly amusing.
They also seem pretty cool, check out the trailer for it.
Interesting. So over there, if someone got an abortion and then was out picketing an abortion clinic the next day, could you actually legally tell everyone that she got an abortion?
@katz
The physician patient relationship has its own legal protection, but from my reading of what Alan said, if you used stolen medical records from that clinic to make that information public that wouldn’t be illegal?
@ Katz
Probably. If she could raise an argument that she wasn’t being hypocritical, say that the ‘shock’ of the procedure had changed her views, then she might be able to get an injunction, but the courts would probably accept there was a legitimate public interest in pointing out that whatever her views bow she’d availed herself of a procedure she was trying to deny to others.
Medical info also attracts more protection but the key case on this involves Naomi Campbell and the courts said it was ok to report that she was attending Narcotics Anonymous (the reporter pretended to be an addict to attend the meetings) as she’d previously denied taking drugs but drew the line at allowing details of what she said in the meetings.
I don’t what laws are elsewhere, but in the US it publishing leaked data is protected under freedom of press. Which has its good and bad points.
@ Flora
In the UK only lawyer-client privilege has the sort of protection that might be familiar in the US. We do have rules about the protection of personal data but you have a defence where you can show a public interest (not just what is of interest to the public) in revealing that info unless it’s the lawyer-client thing.
All of a sudden, I’m feeling a lot more sympathy towards your twitter-partner of yesterday, Mina. I want to find these guys and just ask them, over and over, to “define ethics”. Because seriously?!
The difference being, of course, that you use the word “consent” in a way that everyone recognizes as the definition of the word. These clowns seem to be completely oblivious to the fact that the meaning of “ethics” negates literally everything they are doing.
Reblogged this on Subspace Radio Signals.
Sam Biddle “quite plausibly” had an account used for research? You do great journalism, but that’s a statement of pure unbiased advocacy for a subject. You, yourself, should know that journalists engaging in questionable activities for research almost always share that information with their editors to protect themselves.
While Gamergate and MRA’s doxxing anybody–including Biddle–because of this unethical hacking is still loathsome. Biddle’s past writings–including his horrid “bring back bullying tweet”–hardly point to someone who would never use Ashley Madison.
@Alan
In Canada, we also have the American style protection of patient relationships. There are some key exceptions, like child endangerment, public health concerns, etc, but alas, being a hypocritical asshole is not among them.
@ Flora
We’ve just had a huge national debate about this over here. I found it quite interesting as I used to do legal work for the newspapers at the heart of the scandal. It ended up with a judicial inquiry.
Hey, just realised this actually *was* about “ethics in journalism”! đŸ™‚
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leveson_Inquiry
I mean. Potentially if you found journalists on there and could somehow prove they slept with a dev, this could be potentially viable to get excited about… But having an account doesn’t say who they hooked up with and proves nothing over all. So… I don’t know? Some people just need some news to get excited over? I guess?
(For the record, I would tend to think that revealing that someone’s personal medical records would be unethical even if it weren’t illegal.) (Even in the case of hypocritical assholes.)
I agree with katz.
@ Katz
I would generally agree but I can think of possible expectations; especially if someone was espousing views that could be seen as dangerous.
Consider the following:
Someone who says organ transplants are unethical has received a donated kidney.
A Jehova’s witness has had a life saving blood transfusion.
An anti-vaxxer has had their kids vaccinated.
Even in the last case, where children are involved, I could see it might be ethical to point out that they don’t put themselves or their kids in the same danger they’re willing on others.
Ethics aside, from a harm reduction perspective, keeping medical information strictly confidential just makes sense (even for the hypocritical assholes, or maybe even especially so).
Internet Aristocrat and guys like him are a cancer on Earth.
This makes me wonder how many GamerGater aligned people were on that website, and if they’ll leak that and blame it on the “SJWs” just like they did when 8channers called in bomb threats on SPJ Airplay… or that other time 8channers doxxed Sargon of Akkad…
….but it’s really all about ethics in cheating on your spouse.
TOO… MUCH… ETHIC.
@ GiJoel, @Nequam
Josh Duggar? Ashley Madison? Huh!
On the plus side, the people that pay Ashley Madison to set them up with like-minded individuals are all presumably adults. And not his sisters.
And now Gawker is speculating that he had an OKCupid account too.
I feel badly for his wife, who probably believed his BS. Four kids, one of them a newborn.
“ogg booga scary gamergate!”
Is this the radical left’s new schtic? Instead of blame bush, it’s all blame gamergate. To hell with evidence, if there is none y’all will pretend there is and go along with it, because everyone else will attack you if you don’t.
in b4 I’m banned for speaking against the grain.
“Can’t wait to see pics of blizzard employees dressed in bondage.”
No, that’s fetlife, not Ashley Madison.
Why would they be wanting a Blizzard employee anyway?
This is all I can think of.