Female game developer Brianna Wu was doxxed last night. GameRanx soon ran a headline (archive.today URL, so no worries) about it shortly after. That article will get plenty of views and clicks, especially because #GamerGate is a hot button topic. However, we’re not for easy and dishonest coverage.
Brianna Wu is head of development at Giant Spacekat. She has been a critic of #GamerGate, previously going so far as to create a meme that made fun of #GamerGate, which was then altered with harassment supposedly aimed at Wu.
Wu claimed (see below as well) in a twitter rant that the tweets were from “8chan/#gamergate” members, ending with a “Go fuck yourself.” Around 3 hours later, her personal information was posted on 8chan.
All of the posts in the 8chan thread actively discouraged the doxxer. Within the hour, the thread had been deleted after 8chan users reported it. Wu then received threats on Twitter, from an account that did not associate with or use #GamerGate. That twitter account was eventually deleted due to reports of harassment from both sides of #GamerGate.
This is not Wu’s first time being doxxed. In her op-ed piece “No Skin Thick Enough”, published in Polygon (another archive.today URL), she states that “Later that day, someone texted me my address—telling me they’d ‘See me when I least expected it.’”
There are some important things to keep in mind:
So far there has not been any evidence linking the doxxing to #GamerGate. 8chan has many users who support #GamerGate, among them recent immigrants from 4chan, an image board that has been experiencing an exodus due to its heavy-handed moderation. Creating an anonymous account on 8chan is also very easy, arguably much easier than on Twitter.
It is therefore disingenuous to state that #GamerGate is “a war on industry women” based on this incident.
Everyone should unite against harassment and doxxing on both sides. It should not be ignored, even if the person does not agree with your ideals.
Both Brianna Wu and the moderators of 8chan have been contacted for a comment.
