We cannot let this become gaming culture

[Administrator]

This week, feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian cancelled a university speaking engagement after threats that it would be met with a shooting spree. The news seems like a stark and spectacularly grim escalation of the mounting harassment of female game developers and commentators on the games industry.
In truth, as the Utah State University authorities noted, it isn't really an escalation at all. "After a careful assessment of the threat it has been determined it is similar to other threats that Sarkeesian has received in the past," the institution said in a statement. What seems like a new level of horror to outside observers has already become normality for Sarkeesian, the game developers Zoe Quinn and Brianna Wu, and many other women in games, not to mention in the tech industry and beyond. The difference this time is that word of it has reached the forefront of the mainstream media - including the New York Times' front page - damaging the public reputation of gaming in the process.
It's impossible to tell if the threats were serious statements of intent from a homicidal individual or were just made "for the lulz", in the language of online trolls, in order to sow chaos and discord and deny Sarkeesian a platform for her views. USU and the Utah police seem to think it was the latter. Does it matter? No, because both are attacks on free speech and personal liberty, and both are crimes.
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