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[maxcriden]

The article is primarily focused on Alison Rapp. As I understand it, this is the most mainstream coverage this harassment has received. Hopefully it can help put an end to it.

Excerpts:

There are literal textbooks for online harassment, the original dating back to 1999. These “ruin-life” guides include tactics from doxing and SWATing to placing endangering or annoying ads in online classifieds.

As popular as those techniques remain, however, online harassers have learned that they can cause far more damage with a slightly less flashy and more methodical approach — you might even say the “hottest new trend” in harassment is opposition research.

The Intersect
This horrifying and newly trendy online-harassment tactic is ruining careers
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By Caitlin Dewey April 11 at 3:00 PM

(Twitter)
There are literal textbooks for online harassment, the original dating back to 1999. These “ruin-life” guides include tactics from doxing and SWATing to placing endangering or annoying ads in online classifieds.

As popular as those techniques remain, however, online harassers have learned that they can cause far more damage with a slightly less flashy and more methodical approach — you might even say the “hottest new trend” in harassment is opposition research.

[In the battle of Internet mobs vs. the law, the Internet mobs have won]

The latest high-profile victim is Alison Rapp, formerly a spokesperson for Nintendo of America. Rapp has been in the crosshairs of an online mob since fall, when Nintendo changed several female characters in American versions of its games to make them less sexual. Critics wrongly assumed that Rapp, an outspoken feminist, was involved, and launched a very public investigation into her personal life. In between deconstructing her Amazon wishlist, surfacing anonymous social accounts and circulating copies of her undergraduate thesis, the self-styled investigators also found evidence that Rapp was working a mysterious second job — for which she was fired from Ninetendo on March 30.

They fail to recognize that just because someone makes a product that is publicly accessible — or worse, because someone is tangentially and distantly involved in the making of a product that is publicly accessible — does not mean that they themselves should be, in their entirety, accessible to the public. And the mere fact that something can be publicized is not ethical justification for doing it.

Please note, the full article discusses recent allegations regarding Rapp's second job. I'd appreciate if, in discussing this, we can refrain from any shaming of her or of women.

Full article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-online-harassment-tactic-is-ruining-careers/

See also:

WaPo's article on GamerGate, "The only guide to GamerGate you'll ever need to read":

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...mergate-you-will-ever-need-to-read/?tid=a_inl

Please lock if old or if inappropriate. I felt WaPo's handling of the subject was very thoughtful.

MOD NOTE This (this thread and this forum) isn't the place to talk about the details of anything dug up about Alison Rapp, or indeed anyone who's been targeted by this type of harassment. Nobody's gonna weigh your intent too closely on this sort of thing, so please refrain.

 

[IchigoSharingan]

I still can't believe this shit went down the way it did.

 

[TheBaldEmperor]

The way she and her family have been treated is completely sick and I can't imagine what they are all going through.

Having that as a side job probably isn't a wise move. Might ruin a career. She should be free to live as she pleases and I pass no judgment on her for it. Makes sense for Nintendo to let her go and also maybe why they didn't go to bat for her.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

It's this on the print edition?

 

[Lord of Ostia]

Glad to see mainstream publications are picking up this story. Unfortunately it is a bit too late to really help Alison, but maybe it will cast a light on this behavior and encourage the industry to step up and take a stand against this harassment.

 

[kiryogi]

It's awful what is happening. It's really horrific.

And I hope at least here there will be nobody excusing the fact that now her family members are targeted by this lynching campaign. Because I already saw even here the people victim-blaming her.

Edit: yeah.



Good edit there.

I was missing the word that D:

 

[truly101]

The whole gamergate thing is complete bullshit. They harassed Rapp simply for being female and that they could get away with it. Nobody there thought she was responsible for any sort of censorship, it was an excuse to justify a virtual rape.

 

[Kouriozan]

They are also targeting her family?
What the hell is wrong with those guys, they got what they wanted and it's still not enough?
Hope she'll be fine, and her family as well, nobody deserve it.

 

[Deleted member 126221]

...and as usual, every single time they're mentioned in a publication, these people spam the comment section with bullshit. They really are vermin.

 

[A Link to the Past]

I'm absolutely growing tired of this escalating harassment. An employee of Nintendo's - and by extension Nintendo - was targeted for harassment, and Nintendo had the perfect opportunity to push back. Because they didn't, GamerGate is getting more aggressive and more empowered. It's really shameful. On top of that, GG WILL (and in fact is) keep trying to target Nintendo, because as they likely know, Rapp didn't do anything to restrict anything in these games, and thus, the restrictions will still happen.

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

I wonder if finding out that her family and friends are being doxxed too will cut down on the number of people going "oh, I'm not saying I condone what happened, but let's just play devil's advocate!" regarding this scenario.

This just gets more and more sick and saddening by the day. I'm really glad that mainstream media are starting to pick up on this. Nintendo absolutely should not be let off the hook for this.

I feel almost certain that her family and friends would not be receiving the treatment they were if the harassers hadn't already been empowered by the firing which is the worst part--the precedent that a large number of people were concerned about earlier.

 

[Silver Arrows]

I wonder if finding out that her family and friends are being doxxed too will cut down on the number of people going "oh, I'm not saying I condone what happened, but let's just play devil's advocate!" regarding this scenario.
.

Nope. I fully expect people to come in here guns blazing trying to defend innocent Nintendo from this shameful episode.

 

[Tye The Czar]

This shows that we need to take this issue to Washington. We absolutely need laws to punish and prevent these incidents.
They need to be banned, tracked, arrested and blacklisted. These things are an utter blight on gaming. They are what Jack Thompson had always wanted to see us as.

 

[Silver Arrows]

This shows that we need to take this issue to Washington. We absolutely need laws to punish and prevent these incidents.

As long as 'turn the computer off lel' is an actual (shitty and flimsy) defense, online harassment will still be common place, and lawmakers and police forces will treat it with the lax attitudes they have had up to this point.

Essentially, this

 

[MrSaturn99]

Reading her tweets over the past couple days have made me feel physically ill. Fuck everything about this.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

I'm absolutely growing tired of this escalating harassment. An employee of Nintendo's - and by extension Nintendo - was targeted for harassment, and Nintendo had the perfect opportunity to push back. Because they didn't, GamerGate is getting more aggressive and more empowered. It's really shameful. On top of that, GG WILL (and in fact is) keep trying to target Nintendo, because as they likely know, Rapp didn't do anything to restrict anything in these games, and thus, the restrictions will still happen.

Bingo. The methodology and self-justification has surivived unscathed. It's time to go in on this. It's been time.

 

[Altazor]

"I don't know or don't care about Gamergate but she shouldn't have a second job and shouldn't have said her feminist views on social media, you know? That's just asking for trouble..."

This is absolutely sickening, btw. Horrible, horrible people. Alison and her family (and hell, her extended family is currently being targeted) don't deserve any of it. Not. One. Bit.

 

[Kathian]

It is harassment but its also politics. None of this is new; media is just changing how these things become 'stories'.

The better solution would have been told tell Alison to remove herself from public social media (private button is easy) to protect Ninty and she can keep her job. I feel some of the anger needs to be targeted at those who allowed themselves to be used.

Even if she had a second job the more I think about it - again, Nintendo would just warn her. A part if this has to be how shitty the states employment laws are.

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

Nope. I fully expect people to come in here guns blazing trying to defend innocent Nintendo from this shameful episode.

I want every single person from the last threads who said stuff like

- "But there's nothing Nintendo, as one of the oldest and most influential game companies in the industry, could have done to stop the harassment!"
- "Maybe she shouldn't have had the second job if she didn't want people who hate her to find out!"
- "She said some unsavoury stuff before being hired by Nintendo, she had getting fired and harassed and smeared coming!"

to show themselves and post in great detail exactly what they think now.

 

[FyreWulff]

It is harassment but its also politics. None of this is new; media is just changing how these things become 'stories'.

The better solution would have been told tell Alison to remove herself from public social media (private button is easy) to protect Ninty and she can keep her job. I feel some of the anger needs to be targeted at those who allowed themselves to be used.

Even if she had a second job the more I think about it - again, Nintendo would just warn her. A part if this has to be how shitty the states employment laws are.

It's not about politics, it's about harassing women. This should be made abundantly clear that this group still kept going after her after they got her fired. Their aim is to destroy women's lives. It's not about ethics or politics. It's about pushing women away from gaming so they can keep the status quo with a giant dumptruck of conservative morality policing to justify their harassment.

All of the original GG material focuses mostly on the phrase "moral failures" that they perceive, not "ethics in game journalism". Most of their comments on their shithives is about calling anyone not in a heterosexual relationship 'degenerates'. One of their heroes RooshV even went on about how being homosexual is leading society into disarray. It's the same ol' right wing clownshoes fundie-lite phrasing and scripts around for decades that's found a new lightning rod to strike at women from.

 

[Silver Arrows]

I want every single person from the last thread who said shit like

- "But there's nothing Nintendo could have done to stop the harassment!"
- "Maybe she shouldn't have had the second job if she didn't want people who hate her to find out!"
- "She said some unsavoury stuff before being hired by Nintendo, she had getting fired and harassed and smeared coming!"

to show themselves and post in great detail exactly what they think now.

You know as well as I do that those cowards won't come out. They said their piece, shitposted, and left.

 

[Sanpunkan]

I kind of miss being ignorant about all this Gamergate trash. Really sullies your outlook on people and is embarrassing to be linked to these people via gaming.

What kind of pathetic human trash must you be to try to destroy the life and career of a person you have never met. I don't understand how people entertain any justification for that.

 

[KingSnake]

It's not about politics, it's about harassing women. This should be made abundantly clear that this group still kept going after her after they got her fired. Their aim is to destroy women's lives. It's not about ethics or politics. It's about pushing women away from gaming so they can keep the status quo with a good dash of conservative morality policing.

Pretty much. This is a "look what can happen to you" for anybody out there. There's not even a half rationale for the continuation of the harassment other than to serve as a lesson. It's really horrific.

 

[Dahlifyr]

Bad from Nintendos side to be weak and not stand up for her. Guess they was afraid of bad publicity, and now when the exact opposite begins to happen they will stand in the way of the wind instead.

So lame of of you Nintendo, hope you are prepared for the real shitstorm turning your way!

 

[Silver Arrows]

It's not about politics, it's about harassing women. This should be made abundantly clear that this group still kept going after her after they got her fired. Their aim is to destroy women's lives. It's not about ethics or politics. It's about pushing women away from gaming so they can keep the status quo with a good dash of conservative morality policing.

Don't tell that to people who just want to act like neutral arbitrators though!

 

[Griss]

Damn if I was Rapp I'd be upset at the WaPo publishing those rumours. I, for one, certainly would never have heard of them otherwise.

As for this 'new tactic', liberals have been using the exact same tactics to bully people with views they don't like online forever. The point is they typically choose worthy targets for normal, political causes, rather than these guys who act out of hate for women and a massive sense of insecurity.

It's funny, everyone wants to call everything terrorism these days. Any attack, any murder, any whatever. But the sustained abuse of women online is, in fact, political, and it's one of the few cases where I would agree the term might reasonably apply.

...and as usual, every single time they're mentioned in a publication, these people spam the comment section with bullshit. They really are vermin.

Incognify's comment there appears to be a decent enough, neutral summary of the story so far.

 

[A Link to the Past]

It's not about politics, it's about harassing women. This should be made abundantly clear that this group still kept going after her after they got her fired. Their aim is to destroy women's lives. It's not about ethics or politics. It's about pushing women away from gaming so they can keep the status quo with a giant dumptruck of conservative morality policing to justify their harassment.

All of the original GG material focuses mostly on the phrase "moral failures" that they perceive, not "ethics in game journalism"

To be fair, it's a combination of harassing women and trying to be "anti-politics" (universally in GG that means "progressiveness"), the latter which ironically is political

 

[BY2K]

...and as usual, every single time they're mentioned in a publication, these people spam the comment section with bullshit. They really are vermin.

What?

*reads the first comment*

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME

 

[kiryogi]

Damn if I was Rapp I'd be upset at the WaPo publishing those rumours. I, for one, certainly would never have heard of them otherwise.

This is kind of where I'm at with this, and seeing Ninja's comment even, I can see at this point why Nintendo did not want to comment or shed further light on the matter. I don't think it's necessary to further throw more on Alison like this.

 

[MilkBeard]

This is completely absurd. Internet mob mentality has gone too far. And over what...insignificant changes to a couple of games..that, of all things, falls in line with the company's (Nintendo's) history of localization?

 

[FyreWulff]

To be fair, it's a combination of harassing women and trying to be "anti-politics" (universally in GG that means "progressiveness"), the latter which ironically is political

I've always said, if something seems apolitical to you, it's simply because it matches your politics fairly closely.

This is completely absurd. Internet mob mentality has gone too far. And over what...insignificant changes to a couple of games..that, of all things, falls in line with the company's (Nintendo's) history of localization?

They did the same shit with Intel. They harassed Intel's ad accounts person, who didn't know who they were, to remove their ads from Gamasutra. Went on crowing about how Intel was one of their allies and a huge win for them, just from an ad purchaser doing his job.

Then Intel figured out they were being used for leverage by a hate group, they called their shit out, reinstated the ads, and donated 300 million dollars in encouraging diversity in tech. There's backfiring and there's 300 million dollars of backfiring.

Nintendo folding for them is their newest red meat thrown their way.

 

[NateDrake]

Damn if I was Rapp I'd be upset at the WaPo publishing those rumours. I, for one, certainly would never have heard of them otherwise.

I agree. Spreading those rumors around is damaging to her and those close to her. Even if true, there was a reason such information wasn't shared or disclosed as it is no one's business. While the WaPo may shed light on the horrors of GG, the rumored information will also give GGers fuel.

 

[Deleted member 126221]

What?

*reads the first comment*

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME

It's like that everywhere, even on Facebook where they sometimes use what I assume to be their real name and picture. I don't know if they stir shit consciously or if they genuinely believe what they're writing, but either way it's creepy as fuck.

 

[TheBaldEmperor]

I wonder if finding out that her family and friends are being doxxed too will cut down on the number of people going "oh, I'm not saying I condone what happened, but let's just play devil's advocate!" regarding this scenario.

This just gets more and more sick and saddening by the day. I'm really glad that mainstream media are starting to pick up on this. Nintendo absolutely should not be let off the hook for this.

I feel almost certain that her family and friends would not be receiving the treatment they were if the harassers hadn't already been empowered by the firing which is the worst part--the precedent that a large number of people were concerned about earlier.

I think what pushed the harassers over the edge or refocused them was the second job coming to light over the weekend. It started to pick up steam on Twitter Saturday and Sunday and then she started posting on Twitter late Sunday that her family was being pulled into it. That's just my guess based on what I saw over the weekend. For a while I didn't think it was going to get to where we are today. Most of the people I follow just kind of blew it off like it was none of our business and kept moving.

 

[Dr. Black Jack]

Damn if I was Rapp I'd be upset at the WaPo publishing those rumours. I, for one, certainly would never have heard of them otherwise.

This. Why the fuck would you spread that nonsense further?

Still can't believe Nintendo caved to these assholes.

 

[truly101]

This shows that we need to take this issue to Washington. We absolutely need laws to punish and prevent these incidents.
They need to be banned, tracked, arrested and blacklisted. These things are an utter blight on gaming. They are what Jack Thompson had always wanted to see us as.

This isn't a serious post, is it? Because Jack Thompson never saw this as anything more than a potential settlement payday. The harassment itself has little to do with actual vidoe games, they are a simple tool for people to employ to spew some really hatefully bullshit to other people. Nothing GamerGate does is about protecting video games or players

 

[Fishlake]

I hope these sort of things continue to get attention in the mainstream coverage.

Her life will not be any easier after being fired and the harassment on her family likely has no near expiration date.

I hope the mainstream attention does not lead to more sever harassment on Alison. That is probably too good to be true though.

It would be interesting to see what the media thinks Nintendo should have done if this gets more coverage they were not in an easy position but I think they choose poorly.

 

[Gizuko]

The comments section of the article is just so embarrassing.

So many "defending a child sex advocate" variations. It's like they they can't actually discuss the issue without going there - and only there, it would actually be fine, albeit silly and uninformed, if they made an effort to include that argument among others.

It's so sad this whole matter can't be steered any from that direction.

 

[John Kowalski]

Actually i was just listening to the bit on last week's Bombcast bit about Alison, and there too did i find that with the exception of Alex, whose particularly strong cynicism might have showed, there still seems to be a kind of optimistic approach to these things in the sense that people often don't want to realize that this isn't people critiquing people, or games, or that they actually believe the things they say. They are harassers, they perceive weak points and focus on them, they perceive strengths and repurpose them for their own ends.

It's obvious in their display of conflicting interests and ideologies. It's a disgusting act worthy of their vacuous minds, petty little people grasping beyond their worth and we're consistently falling for it.

This is completely absurd. Internet mob mentality has gone too far. And over what...insignificant changes to a couple of games..that, of all things, falls in line with the company's (Nintendo's) history of localization?

No, that's not what they want. They want to hurt people. They wanted Alison fired. You think they care about the games? Fuck that, they care about themselves and their privileges and will seek damages when they can't get what they want.

 

[Silver Arrows]

What?

*reads the first comment*

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME

Cuckold and any other form of the word, alongside SJW, is generally my cue to bow out of any argument on the internet.

It works fairly well.

 

[Vena]

Damn if I was Rapp I'd be upset at the WaPo publishing those rumours. I, for one, certainly would never have heard of them otherwise.

This article is doing more harm than good to her with the rumors being posted, rather than just looking at the broader problem. There's a reason neither Nintendo nor Allison commented on what the job actually was...

 

[Griss]

This is completely absurd. Internet mob mentality has gone too far. And over what...insignificant changes to a couple of games..that, of all things, falls in line with the company's (Nintendo's) history of localization?

It has nothing to do with that. Rapp was PRO the stuff these people like. It was entirely because she was a highly liberal women in the games media (edit: industry, sorry) who did not conform to their sexual mores. Seriously, the mention of an open relationship or some such is like a red rag to a bull for these people. When they learned that, it was war.

Exact same thing with Zoe Quinn. Whatever about her Depression Quest game, it was the sex that caused these people to want her dead.

 

[kirblar]

This is kind of where I'm at with this, and seeing Ninja's comment even, I can see at this point why Nintendo did not want to comment or shed further light on the matter. I don't think it's necessary to further throw more on Alison like this.

Agreed w/ you and the others previously- there was a pretty clear implication if you had followed the whole thing, but there was absolutely no need to spell it out here.

 

[BassForever]

I want every single person from the last threads who said stuff like

- "But there's nothing Nintendo, as one of the oldest and most influential game companies in the industry, could have done to stop the harassment!"
- "Maybe she shouldn't have had the second job if she didn't want people who hate her to find out!"
- "She said some unsavoury stuff before being hired by Nintendo, she had getting fired and harassed and smeared coming!"

to show themselves and post in great detail exactly what they think now.

As someone who said correlation not causation lets pump the breaks before concluding Nintendo caved to GG pressure, I still basically stand by that. Her second job would have gotten her fired once it came out it was only a matter of when not if Nintendo would discover it. The fact GG targeted her was wrong and the fact they continue to do so is disgusting we all can agree on that, we can also discuss if Nintendo did enough to protect her from online harassment and based upon the fact she is still being attacked almost two weeks after being fired I'm not really sure what Nintendo could have done if anything to really curb the hate group, but let's not just completely give Rapp a pass here. It's in her right to speak her feminist/progressive views on social media if she chooses to, but if she picks up the kind of secondary job that would get you fired from a lot of places in corporate America you put yourself forever at risk that one day someone at your company will discover it and fire you. She has not and still does not deserve the hate group going after her, but based upon a contract she signed to work at Nintendo she did deserve to be fired due to her own actions.

 

[James Scott]

Pretty awful and nonsensical even by GamerGate standards.
They got her fired, what else do they want?
She's no longer in the gaming industry and they're still harassing her and now going after her family?

 

[UnemployedVillain]

I want every single person from the last threads who said stuff like

- "But there's nothing Nintendo, as one of the oldest and most influential game companies in the industry, could have done to stop the harassment!"
- "Maybe she shouldn't have had the second job if she didn't want people who hate her to find out!"
- "She said some unsavoury stuff before being hired by Nintendo, she had getting fired and harassed and smeared coming!"

to show themselves and post in great detail exactly what they think now.

I was one of those people, and I'll repeat basically what I said before. I still believe the reasons for her firing, as explained by Nintendo, and assuming they weren't lying, were justified. The timing made it suspicious, but coincidences happen.

With regards to them not really commenting during her harassment, yes I believe they could have said something and shown some solidarity, but I also STILL believe it wouldn't have done anything to "stop" the harassment or even quell it. It was pretty well known that she had nothing to do with those decisions, and it's common sense that a PR person wouldn't have anything to do with localization. The people harassing her weren't really operating from any sort of rational basis. It was pure misogyny, babies being butthurt over perceived "censorship" and them taking out their anger on an almost random bystander.

So to me, the issues are more deep seeded than just being games, or games fostering a certain culture. I think society has been fostering this kind of thing for a long time and platforms like twitter are just making us aware of it and giving said people more power. I'm not saying they shouldn't have said anything, I'm just saying that I doubt it would have done anything to help. Nintendo has no power over twitter and them coming out and saying "Don't harass people" (which they did in the statement given about her firing) wasn't exactly going to cause these people to turn over a new leaf.

Also, like I said in that other thread, articles like this while bringing shit like this to light also seem to have the negative effect of causing more of the targets personal life and details to surface. Instead of what happened to them taking focus, the completely irrelevant things (What was her second job? Was that the real reason Nintendo fired her? Blah blah essay blah blah) always seem to be pushed into the lime light which is unfortunate.

 

[MrSaturn99]

Just for the record, WaPo isn't the first outlet to report on these "rumors", although as far as I know they're the first to mention them in an article defending her.

 

[00ich]

Damn if I was Rapp I'd be upset at the WaPo publishing those rumours. I, for one, certainly would never have heard of them otherwise.

This seems to be out, no matter what. I had it in my google news feed today.

 

[Vire]

Why go after her and her family? What is the point? These people are literal terrorists.

Who gives a shit what she does in her private life?

I'm gonna go stick my head in the sand and remember why I loved video games in the first place by playing some Ratchet and Clank tonight. Jesus...

 

[antonz]

Pretty awful and nonsensical even by GamerGate standards.
They got her fired, what else do they want?
She's no longer in the gaming industry and they're still harassing her and going after her family?

Gamergate doesn't stop even after "victories" If anything they would prefer she kill herself and even then they would just continue to harass her family.

The internet has allowed the type of shit stains on society who once upon a time lived in their rooms and hated the world and if we were lucky blew their own brains out to find like minded individuals who they can now congregate with and discuss how the world needs to burn for them to feel satisfaction. Everybody else is the problem. Not them. Socially awkward and afraid to speak to a woman. Well obviously women are scum and need to be put in their place.