Actress Felicia Day opened up for the first time about the Gamergate controversy yesterday on her blog. A few minutes later, she was targeted by a group of internet trolls who posted her public details online.
Day writes that she decided to stay quiet about Gamergate because she was afraid for her safety. Several female gamers have been harassed and threatened and recently and Felicia Day didn’t want to open herself up to attack.
The actress writes: “Seeing another gamer on the street used to be an auto-smile opportunity, or an entry into a conversation starting with, ‘Hey, dude! I love that game too! But for the first time maybe in my life, on that Saturday afternoon, I walked towards that pair of gamers and I didn’t smile. I didn’t say hello. In fact, I crossed the street so I wouldn’t walk by them. A small voice of doubt in my brain now suspected that those guys and I might not be comrades after all. That they might not greet me with reflected friendliness, but contempt.”
Day writes that she was even scared to retweet articles or reply to people’s messages on Twitter. The actress said that she didn’t want to go anywhere near Gamer Gate because she was afraid of being doxxed. Well, unfortunately, Day’s fears came true this morning when her public information was posted online.
Day writes: “I have been terrified of inviting a deluge of abusive and condescending tweets into my timeline. I did one simple @ reply to one of the main victims several weeks back, and got a flood of things I simply couldn’t stand to read directed at me. I had to log offline for a few days until it went away. I have tried to re-tweet a few of the articles I’ve seen dissecting the issue in support, but personally I am terrified to be doxxed (having personal information such as an address, email or real name released online) for even typing the words ‘Gamer Gate.’”
Business Insider notes that the Gamergate movement has been building for months. It started as a protest against close relationships between journalists and game developers but has been heavily criticized recently for the movement’s tendency to harass and attack women. Those behind the #gamergate hashtag have denied that the movement has anything to do with gender but Chris Kluwe, former NFL player and avid gamer, pointed out the hypocrisy last night.
Holy shit. You fucking losers in #Gamergate claim it’s about ethics, and then dox a woman who speaks up in her comments section? Get fucked.
— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) October 23, 2014
Anyone who associates with that filth is worthless. You’re making a conscious decision at this point.
— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) October 23, 2014
And for the record, none of you fucking #Gamergate tools tried to dox me, even after I tore you a new one. I’m not even a tough target.
— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) October 23, 2014
Instead, you go after a woman who wrote why your movement concerns her. Fuck #Gamergate and anyone aligned with it.
— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) October 23, 2014
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