Where do GamerGaters plan their harassment?

April 24, 2015 2:23 PM

In the next few months we're having a convention. It has the possibility of attracting GamerGate attention. We've talked about the possibility that the panels will be disrupted, but if there's definitely trouble brewing we'd like to know about it.

I've seen people mention online (without linking or naming them) forums etc. where GamerGaters planned their harassment. Where are these places?... The information's probably Googleable, but I'm coming up snake eyes.

posted by anonymous to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

My guess is somewhere on 8chan.

I suspect if you post this question at /r/GamerGhazi they may have a better idea.
posted by justkevin at 2:35 PM on April 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

It might be worth contacting the Online Abuse Prevention Initiative (started by Randi Harper of ggautoblocker fame) to see if they have any advice.
posted by Lexica at 2:51 PM on April 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you're looking to avoid that kind of attention, I would not just post and ask Ghazi; some people will probably want more details just to be helpful, and I think generally the people there will really mean well, but there are plenty of Gators who are obsessive enough to use everything you say to try to track down which con, just for the purposes of making you a target. Not that it WILL happen, it's just a non-negligible chance. I would privately message the moderators and ask them for general help, to start with. They'll know where to look and who to talk to about these sorts of things, and it won't be the same as putting everything out there for the whole internet to find.
posted by Sequence at 2:54 PM on April 24, 2015 [5 favorites]

I don't follow any of this, but I know that r/kotakuinaction has had threads before discussing (in a not-positive way) metafilter threads about gamersgate, and seems to be a pretty gross hive of scum.
posted by phunniemee at 2:54 PM on April 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

You may want to contact the Crash Override Network to see if they have any tips for keeping your con safe from disruption.

The KIA subreddit that phunniemee mentions above is a good source, but the seedy underbelly of KiA is on 8chan on the /baph and I think /gg boards (that was the case a few months ago anyway). Keep in mind though that 8chan can harbor really terrible things like gore pictures and images depicting the sexual exploitation of minors so while technically that is where they hang out I personally would not follow them there.
posted by jess at 4:55 PM on April 24, 2015