#GamerGate and the law have a strange relationship. The timelines of pro-GG Twitter accounts are littered with thorough misunderstandings of how the law works, with people claiming that releasing the private contact information Zoe Quinn, Anita Sarkeesian and their families is totally cool because they're a matter of public record (note: it's not, and they're not, as evidenced by the hoops people have to jump through in order to obtain them ie through hacking), lawyers claiming that they have claims against "bullying" Social Justice Warriors, and that one guy who tried to launch a crowdfunding attempt so they could hire his lawyer wife and do...something? People say that #GamerGate is a movement about journalistic ethics. Based on the majority of their activities, they have more in common with a hate group. They have engaged in smear campaigns against people by illegally releasing private information. They have driven people form their homes by making death threats which is, again, illegal. The torrents of abuse they unleash online may very well lead to jail time if new laws pass through. And obviously there's the guy who said he was going to kill Feminist Frequency's Anita Sarkeesian at a university speech this past week, something else the law tends to frown upon. Look, Batman's against #GamerGate, what more do you want?
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
