There's a wariness to the way that Alex Lifschitz and Depression Quest creator Zoe Quinn comport themselves over Skype, as though they've grown accustomed to expecting assault. Their voices are clipped, their laughter strained. They're careful about everything, vigilant against even the slightest risk of being hacked.
Which makes sense. Caution is a natural response when you're in the crosshairs of the Internet.
Lifschitz and Quinn are the co-founders of Crash Override, a grassroots volunteer effort that aims to provide support to those suffering from online harassment. It's not the first of its kind; organizations like Stay Safe Online and Working To Halt Online Abuse have long labored to cultivate a safer Internet. But Crash Override is trying to offer a little more. "One of the big things that separates our network from others is that we like to say it's 'for survivors by survivors.'" Lifschitz explains.
Quinn, in particular, is what many would consider a survivor of online harassment. About six months ago, an ex-partner of hers published a series of vitriolic blog posts alleging sexual infidelities. The diatribe, overflowing with screencapped Facebook conversations, was the catalyst for an avalanche of personal attacks from readers who believed that Quinn had slept with a journalist to secure positive coverage for her game.
"It's for survivors by survivors."
This supposed breach of ethics gave way to the so-called Quinnspiracy Theory: that Quinn used sex and pity to manipulate the industry. As weeks passed, the accusations continued to mount. Quinn was implicated with a litany of questionable acts, including sabotaging a game jam led by The Fine Young Capitalists. The situation eventually came to a head when actor Adam Baldwin created the #Gamergate hashtag, providing an identity for the growing movement.
Though ostensibly about ethics in games journalism, Gamergate has also been linked to various incidents of online harassment, including doxxing (having one's private information researched and disseminated), SWATing (the act of inciting an emergency response to false situations) and death threats, among other examples. Quinn says she personally experienced many of these kinds of attacks.
James Potter