Randi Harper is one of the women that Gamergaters love to hate the most. A software developer, she became Gamergate Public Enemy #4 — after the troika of Sarkeesian, Quinn, and Wu — when she developed a BlockBot that enabled Twitter users to easily shield themselves (insofar as this is possible) from possible Twitter harassment at the hands of Gamergaters and others of their ilk.
This little bit of software garnered her many months of vicious harassment herself, and ultimately a three-part smear series on Breitbart by Gamergate’s pet “journalist,” Milo Yiannopoulos.
Now one Gamergater is going after Harper’s Patreon supporters, using personal information taken from the crowdfunding site when it was hacked earlier this month.
After finding the names and addresses of Harper’s several hundred Patreon supporters in the leaked data, British blogger Sam Smith took it upon himself to “warn” these people of Harper’s alleged crimes against decency by sending a mass email to everyone he found on the list.
But to a lot of people — myself included — his supposedly friendly warning read more like a blackmail attempt.
One of the recipients of the email shared it with me yesterday. It starts off in a decidedly unfriendly manner:
I am the author of the major blog www.matthewhopkinsnews.com. I am sending you this email because your name appears in a list of people who donate to a Patreon operated by a person called Randi Harper. The list was confidential but has been hacked and placed online by unknown third parties. As a result of the leak you may be named, so please read this email carefully.
Smith — who goes by the name “Matthew Hopkins” online, styling himself as a sort of digital reincarnation of the original “Witchfinder General” — then lays out what he sees as Harper’s ethical failings, linking to Yiannopoulos’ three-part smear job as proof. Among Smith’s complaints:
Harper has … admitted to drug abuse, including attempting to smoke meth from a broken lightbulb. She also irresponsibly dyed her dog blue and accidentally allowed it to lick up her drugs.
Dyeing a dog blue may annoy the dog, but if done properly it will not harm it. And literally billions of human beings on our blue planet have used drugs at some point in their lives.
Now we come to the blackmaily bit, which Smith insists is not blackmaily at all:
You are supporting a person who is associated with some of the vilest imaginable extremism. …
As a responsible journalist, I can assure you I shall not be publishing the list. However, some of you may work in regulated roles with responsible access to information, vulnerable adults or children. There may be a lawful public interest in my contacting the relevant authorities (including an employer).
Smith went on to ask Harper’s supporters if they, personally, “endorse her extremist views” and if they felt “aggrieved at Ms Harper’s failure to safeguard your personal data.” (Never mind that it was Patreon’s job, not Harper’s, to protect the data on its servers.)
If Smith’s email was intended to rattle its recipients, it seems to have succeeded. The person who sent the email to me reported that “[i]t left me quite shaken and furious.”
If the email was intended to scare donors into abandoning Harper, it has apparently backfired in a big way. Indeed, Motherboard reports that, according to Harper,
Smith’s efforts has had the opposite effect: her backers have responded by doubling, and sometimes tripling their donations. Her campaign has jumped more than $1,300 a month in donations after the emails went out.
For his part, Smith insists, as he did in a post yesterday, that his email wasn’t intended to be threatening. He had simply
decided the ethical thing to do would be to warn the people concerned, reassuring them I would not release the data and also what might happen, as I thought the Patreon boilerplate warning insufficient.
That bit about there being “a lawful public interest in my contacting the relevant authorities (including an employer)?” That was
actually just boilerplate legal language related to UK law. Obviously I am analysing these supporters and in some limited circumstances I might be required to report things – for example if they were a risk to a child. As a person who may wish to enter a regulated profession, I would be expected to cooperate with the authorities. Far from being a blackmail demand it is just standardised ‘cover-yourself’ legal language.
I will have to consult with the monkey lawyers flying out of my butt on that one.
Some Gamergaters have insisted that Smith isn’t really one of them, which is a bit silly, considering that he is a regular on the KotakuInAction subreddit — one of Gamergate’s main hubs of activity — who happily posted a photo of himself hobnobbing with Yianopoulos at a #Gamergate meetup in London last April.
But it is worth noting that the overwhelming majority of those posting about Smith’s email blast on KotakuInAction since word of it got out earlier this week have been strongly critical, blasting it as the sort of thing that (in their mind) only evil anti-Gamergaters would do. (Never mind that they haven’t.)
Of course, Gamergaters (and the mythic “third party trolls” they like to talk about so often) have been doing far worse to Sarkeesian, Quinn, Wu, Harper and many others among Gamergate’s favorite villains for more than a year now.
Still, the reaction to Smith’s blackmail-that’s-not-really-blackmail-honest suggests that at least some Gamergaters have a few sickly shreds of decency still living deep inside them somewhere. I can only hope they can nurse their decency back to full health before they ruin the lives of more people in their attempt to rid the game world of anyone and everyone who disagrees with them.
And I hope Patreon brings the full force of its lawyers down on Smith.
@The other EJ
I grew up in the best continent, just north of you (if I recall right you’re from SA)
@Alan
@maistrechat:
1) Most of those types of arguments I’ve seen claim that the description of the BlockBot was libelous against those listed. That is, since it didn’t make clear that it had a high false positive rate, it gave the impression that everyone on the list was a confirmed harasser. Plus maybe the way the description was written made it so the accusations against the list’s “seeders” (“follow more than X of these people and you go on the list”) could be construed at accusations against everyone on the list.
2) I’ve seen some people claim that the BlockBot designers intended for it to not just be a Twitter block list, but for it also be an employment blacklist, which would mean the designers would be afoul of various employment laws.
3) Then, of course, are the handful of GGers who come up with amusing legal theories, like using RICO or anti-trust laws against anti-GGers, or claims that Sarkeesian and Quinn violated the Logan Act when they spoke before a U.N. sub-committee. Who knows what those people came up with.
Would also like to point out that The Block Bot isn’t run by Harper. She runs the Good Game Autoblocker, which GGers consistantly confuse for The Block Bot.
Now I know Fandom Secrets is no sort of reliable place for news, but there was a (closed) thread about GGer TotalBiscuit having cancer? Has anyone else heard anything about this?
4) Gamergaters don’t know what words mean.
OMG!!! OMG!!! OMG!!!
https://youtu.be/gR6MeFFzqQ8
Okay. I’m calmer now.
This is just the cutest ever thing.
TotalBiscuit does have cancer, which I believe, thank god, is in remission.
Anyone who still seriously sees GG as all bad should read this: http://theflounce.com/harassment-abuse-apologism-sanitizing-abuse-social-justice-spheres/
Yes, he does have cancer. I wish the best for him with that, but it doesn’t justify supporting GamerGate. Apparently certain isolated anti-GG people said they’re happy he has cancer, which all the GGers ran with to make moral equivalency arguments (it isn’t an example of moral equivalence, it’s a horrible thing to say about someone, but it’s not threatening him to the point that he considers leaving the gaming industry or going into hiding).
Plus it’s not really the same as harassing people based on stuff like race, gender, or disability when you’re in a position of privilege over them so your prejudiced attitudes are backed up culturally.
“I don’t look like a rapist.”
Well, you’re starting to sound like one (as in, someone who freaks out this easily about it because they’re aware that this course will make them unable to keep denying something “questionable” in their past). Or at least, the kind of person who needs that course the most.
And the comments. Oh, all the #NotAllMen and this-is-bad-because-it-blames-ALL-men in the comments!
What, pray tell, constitutes “looking like a rapist”? Because all the ones I’ve ever seen looked so…ordinary.
Alan — I’m not touching the math on that one, but most shrimp top out at like 6″, lobsters just keep fucking growing though, so probably as big as you want, though anything much bigger than the record lobster isn’t gonna be believable (you’d have to look it up, that one I don’t know off hand).
WWTH — Koko does love her pet cats, I’m glad she got new ones, because a cat on a gorilla’s head is the best thing I’ve seen all day, and I saw an adorable 3~ year old boy with this mop of curly ginger hair earlier!
And it’s not like we can’t disagree with him and his “neutrality” that he claims on GG. Because he does claim to be “neutral”, even though he makes crass comments like “Well, Anita’s not dead, so those ‘threats’ are false!”, and parrots other GG talking points.
What gets to me is he’s friends with a lot of really genuinely decent people, like Jim Sterling, and the fact that he can make a damn good point when it comes to the video game industry, as long as it doesn’t have to do with politics, gender, or race. He’s just so…off on those subjects. Like almost Not Even Wrong levels of You Missed the Fucking Point.
And agreed, saying you’re glad someone has cancer isn’t the same as harassing them out of their job. I’m not glad that anyone has cancer, quite frankly it’s a horrible disease I would like wiped off the face of the planet, but it still doesn’t protect him from criticism.
We “SJWs” aren’t going to not criticize someone solely based on their position as a LGBT person, a PoC, a person with cancer, ect.
If they fuck up, they’ll get called out.
Actually, it’s about ethics in dog grooming.
Can’t help but wonder if this isn’t a dog whistle for “I’m not a scary black/brown dude!”
Funnily enough, KiA might be against Smith’s emailing campaign, but they’re all for naming and shaming a game dev found to be contributing to Randi on Patreon.
(Also re: TB and his cancer, he recently announced that they found spots on his liver and it’s not treatable. Really horrible stuff.)
Hello.
Well, if he knows that he does not look like a rapist, it implies that he knows how look a rapist. That is a precious knowledge !
Maybe he should consider engaging himself in some police or official forces, helping them by roaming Earth and looking at every person he crosses, then pointing out immediatly the rapists that, thanks to his wonderlous knowledge, he can recognize in a glimpse. This man is gold and sure is a powerfull ally (so powerfull he does not ever need a lesson).
… Or does he expect rapists are like, say, the traitors in old medieval movies (you know, the ones with the black hair, thin pointed beard and moustache on a thin chin, and shifty eyes), and that they all look the same ?
Have a nice day.
Thanks for the heads-up, folks.
^ Quick question: I keep seeing the term “dog whistle” here used in context, but I don’t really get what it means. Can anyone give a definition?
Hopefully Katie won’t deduct points from the Ravenclaw house for not knowing.
@sunnysombrera:
Basically, coded language intended for only select audience.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Dog_whistle_politics
That’s why I can’t stand people who use false equivalence: they try to come off as an impartial third party – even though it’s done in defense of a certain position. It’s just so obvious and it’s made more aggravating by the fact these people can’t stop being disingenuous about it.
I’ve had people for dismiss the importance of death and rape threats (“they haven’t been harmed by such!”) and then suddenly say “the other side does it too!” as if the last thing they said was never stated.
I am completely puzzled as to why, since people like TotalBollocks are those that annoy Jim Sterling quite often.
Just like Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw!
It’s weird that many, who’d probably consider themselves FREEZE PEACH absolutists, are also the same people who’d claim you can’t criticize someone for one reason or another.
According to Urban Dictionary:
Dog whistle is a type of strategy of communication that sends a message that the general population will take a certain meaning from, but a certain group that is “in the know” will take away the secret, intended message. Often involves code words.
“Republicans say they want to make civil rights for gays a state issue, which is really just a dog whistle strategy for saying that they will refuse to grant equal rights on a federal level.”
And all Gamergaters insist that everybody and nobody is a Gamergater as circumstances dictate.
Quicker than you can say “false flag” or “third party troll”.
I believe that the sign the Warwick University student is holding (This is not what a rapist looks like) means that HE’S not a rapist. I don’t think he’s saying that men who look like him aren’t rapists. He’s just saying that he’s not a rapist. (Won’t someone — anyone — understand how his feelings are so very, very hurt!)
His premise is absurd. I sat through many a class on subjects that I already understood. And I never felt like the instructor was insulting my intelligence. Because it wasn’t all about me.
I think this guy is trolling for a career and for dates. He’s a good-looking guy and now the world has seen his picture. He might be hoping to snag a modeling contract or acting jobs. And (at the very least in his fevered imagination and possibly even in real life) there have to be some young women out there who will swoon at his looks and say, “He’s just misunderstood! I must let him know that one woman understands him. I must bring a smile to that face. I will make it my personal mission.”
An excellent worked example of a dog whistle comes from back in 2011.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/margaret-cho-trolls-who-call-me-fat-and-ugly-are-admitting-defeat_5601cd1ce4b08820d91aa305
Short story shorter: When Internet trolls attempt to derail Cho’s arguments by calling her fat and ugly, she says, “You’re not offering me a cogent rebuttal.”
Ka-zing!
@sunnysombrera – Another dogwhistle you might recognize, especially if you’re in the US
“Thugs”
Definition (when used as a dog whistle): Young brown men and boys, especially in baggy clothes and/or hoodies*.
Implied reaction: White people, especially men, need guns (especially but not limited to the right to open carry them into any chosen venue) in order to fend off thugs.
* Was I the only one who was incredibly annoyed and amused (annused? amoyed?) by the chicken-sqwaking on Fox, et al, a few years back about, “OH, NO! THUGS AND THEIR HOODIES!!!”
I was working on a university campus at the time and was like, “You mean…hoodies like most of these kids wear most of the time? Oh, no – you mean hoodies like brown kids wear, probaby even some of these kids on campus if they happen to not be on campus.
Check.”
*squawking
“sqwaking” was an auto-correct plugged in by my phone when I wrote “squaking”.
And, oh wait, “a few years ago” was a misstatement:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/05/oklahoma-lawmaker-wants-to-ban-hoodies-in-public/
But there is this:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/09/16/fox-newss-bill-oreilly-blames-trayvon-martins-death-on-hoodie/
Ah, thugs and hoodies
I’ve mentioned before that over here a stereotypical thug would be a shaven headed white guy with a broken nose (although as that description also fits me I’ll have to add #notallthugs!)
The hoodies thing is also neutral here, if anything it’s associated with chav culture, again that’s a white thing. Chavs are your “Jeremy Kyle” types, Burberry baseball caps and alloy wheels.
Our Prime Minister, David Cameron, was the source of much mirth when he tried to dispel the stereotype that such people were necessarily criminals with his “Hug a hoodie” campaign.
Luckily for him, he’s now more famous for having fucked a dead pig, so people have moved on from taking the piss out of that.
That’s what passes for political debate here.
Kat:
Well, unless the kid is René fucking Magritte, maybe he should work on making his meaning clearer.
I suspect the sign is meant to be an echo of that “this is what a feminist looks like” campaign. If so, it’s a fail. “This is what a feminist looks like” challenges stereotypes: it says “if you thought all feminists are ugly, bitter man-haters, think again”. By contrast, his “this is not what a rapist looks like” attempts to reinforce stereotypes: it says “rapists are recognisably disreputable, easy to spot, so if you get raped it’s probably your own damn fault”.
Kid probably has a great future in the Tory party.
@Alan re: political debate: One of the few regrets that I have about not having cable TV is that I no longer have C-SPAN.
C-SPAN sometimes airs footage from the House of Commons.
That’s some quality entertainment right there. /southern accent
@…dammit, I forgot who posted the Radiolab info/link and am on my phone so can’t navigate back to check:
*puts episode and queue*
Thanks for the rec!
To those with a chilly day/morning:
I hope that you have a fuzzy to keep you warm.
http://i.imgur.com/cQYDb0N.jpg
My cat loves me*.
* My body warmth.
She loves my body warmth.
She’s 10 and pretty much only likes people when it’s below 50 F.
Episode in* queue
*sips coffee*
Does this work where you are?
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/hansard/commons/todays-commons-debates/read/
EJ,
btw, thanks for posting your session report. The thread was kinda dead so I didn’t respond, but it was a fun read.
I’m running a follow-up of sorts tomorrow, as it happens. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Laurier University has been locked down and classes cancelled due to a threat received by the FYI and RCMP. Spent an hour or so listening to an overhead chopper.
@pillowinhell
Another threat against a university.
Please stay safe. And if you feel like it, let us know the details.
The Laurier threat came from 4chan, because of course it did:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/wilfrid-laurier-university-lockdown-1.3274032
@pillowinhell
Stay safe. I found an article about it for anyone else curious. The threat was made on 4chan. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/wilfrid-laurier-university-lockdown-1.3274032
@Alan:
And this is why “conservative traditional family-values politician” is these days a dogwhistle for “secretly super-sicko badwrongsort pervert with actual blackmail-worth skeletons in closet”.
*sips her tea aggressively and gives a knowing nod*
@mockingbird: Your kitty has brought warmth to my evening.
Here’s the 4chan threat: http://imgur.com/LzZRgUM
@Patreon, please paddle that boy’s third point of contact. This is clear prima facie harassment and threatening.
I feel like Sex Signals was probably the most effective consent education strategy I’ve seen – at least when I saw it (fairly early on in their development). It presents itself as an improv comedy show about sex which goes into issues of consent really effectively. As a result it doesn’t (generally?) come off as “you must be a rapist” to these types. It didn’t get presented as a “lesson” so people seemed more receptive to it than they might have otherwise.
Howdy, thanks, and you’re right. This guy, if he knows what rapists do/don’t look like, should immediately get a job with the local police as a criminal profiler. He’ll clean up, I tell you!
I bet he thinks they all are black and wear hoodies.
(Item: I’m white. And I wear hoodies. Sometimes with miniskirts. Clearly, I am Asking For Trouble.)
Re: the Laurier threats
Oh hell. I lived in that area a few years ago; the University of Waterloo is three blocks down the street from Laurier University. I hope that the threats aren’t real; if a shooter can’t get at Laurier there’s another target within walking distance, one that might not be on as high an alert.
I hope everyone in the area is safe. This shit is awful.
I think the logic tends to go something like: ‘As a frozen peach person, I am against censorship; this criticism – if you stretch some concepts out to almost the breaking point and also squint really, really hard – could kinda-sorta be seen as a kind of censorship; therefore, I believe we need to stop this criticism.’ To most of us it’s plain that these folks are just using a ‘censorship’ boogeyman to try and shut down opinions that they disagree with, of course.
Even if the threat is probably, hopefully just trolling, it seems specific enough to potentially be investigated seriously and have charges brought. I hope something is done.