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Atlantis

Atlantis

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I'm disturbed that the woman killed herself. She might have been mentally ill or she might have just been a sad, attention seeking jerk. But you can't compare writing messages online to being stalked by photographers and having people hiding in your bushes. It's not the same thing. Two wrongs don't make a right.
 
benbradley

benbradley

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Medievalist said:
CAUTION: Violent language, images and threats

Gamergate Threats Force Developer from her home

CAUTION: Violent language, images and threats
Click to expand...
Here's today's story from Business Insider, that pretty much needs the same caution, especially, of course, in the comments. It's generally a good idea to "not read the comments" but in this case they tend to demonstrate exactly what the story is talking about:

Video Gamers Are Having A Bizarre Debate Over Whether Sending Death Threats To Women Is A Serious Issue Or Not
http://www.businessinsider.com/gamergate-death-threats-2014-10#ixzz3G3mHYbBj

I saw a comment in the thread from Medievalist's post that one needs a "verified identity" in very many real-life situations, bur not online. There IS a way to verify identity online, and I recall when I was first on the Internet in the mid 90s it was included on some public forum posts (!), but for some reason ISPs decided that was "private."

It seems that some lawsuits against Twitter would flush this out for most such offendors (other than using gross, anonymous twitter account names like "yousuck" I'm guessing they don't try hide - apparently they don't have to).

I'd like to see at least a little jail time for such online harassment. If it's serious enough that the police come to your door for protection, it should get the police to the abusers' door for arrest.
 
gingerwoman

gingerwoman

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benbradley said:
Here's today's story from Business Insider, that pretty much needs the same caution, especially, of course, in the comments. It's generally a good idea to "not read the comments" but in this case they tend to demonstrate exactly what the story is talking about:

Video Gamers Are Having A Bizarre Debate Over Whether Sending Death Threats To Women Is A Serious Issue Or Not
http://www.businessinsider.com/gamergate-death-threats-2014-10#ixzz3G3mHYbBj

I saw a comment in the thread from Medievalist's post that one needs a "verified identity" in very many real-life situations, bur not online. There IS a way to verify identity online, and I recall when I was first on the Internet in the mid 90s it was included on some public forum posts (!), but for some reason ISPs decided that was "private."
Click to expand...
Sometimes people will change their IP address just to feel safe. Changing or hiding one's IP address doesn't make one guilty, and there are many ways of doing it. An organization like Twitter can hand info over to experts, who can get around VPNs and what not though of course.

I'm pretty sure twitter would be loath to do so, unless police came with warrants.
 
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