MarkBernstein.org
Apr 15 3 2015

Press

Infamous ❧ Thoughtless ❧ Careless ❧ Reckless

but it still must be said that his inflammatory and erroneous description of the situation is what caused all this nonsense in the first place. – Jimbo Wales, Wikipedia Chairman Emeritus

Select Commentary: The Guardian ❧ Gawker ❧ PandoDaily ❧ The Mary Sue ❧ Wil Wheaton ❧ Der Standard ❧ de Volkskrant ❧ Dr. Clare Hooper ❧ P. Z. Myers ❧ FayerWayer ❧ Think Progress ❧ Stacey Mason ❧ The Verge ❧ Heise ❧ Der Verdieping Trouw ❧ Prof. David Millard ❧ Wired.de ❧ KIRO-FM Seattle (starts at 10:00) ❧ TechNewsWorld ❧ Washington Post ❧ Prismatic ❧ SocialText ❧ Neues Deutschland ❧ Vice ❧ Europa (Madrid) ❧ El Fichero ❧ Bust ❧ Daily Orange ❧ Overland ❧ ArCompany ❧ Think Progress ❧ Contours

Good cause: App Camp For Girls. (Donations to Wikipedia are counter-productive. Give instead to a charity that assists women in computing, or victims of online harassment, not to punish Wikipedia but to repair the damage. App Camp For Girls has already raised $1200 from former Wikipedia donors; do tell them why you’re giving.)

Dec 03 29 1903

Explanation

I’ve worked on, in, and around wikis for many years. In 2014, a shadowy group called #GamerGate undertook a virulent online campaign to drive women out of computer science and software development. Anonymous threats of assault, rape, and murder were sent, and the private lives of prominent designers and critics were exposed to public scrutiny.

Wikipedia has served an instrumental role in publicizing sexual innuendo about these women who had done nothing wrong aside from gaining employment in the software industry. For a time, I worked along with other Wiki experts to stop this. Gamergate identified five editors who most greatly interfered with their efforts, calling them the “five horsemen of wiki bias,” and openly schemed for their removal.

In January 2015, Wikipedia’s Arbitration Committee gave them everything they wished, sanctioning every editor on GamerGate’s list. A few disposable GamerGate accounts were also sanctioned. My response to the initial decision was a four-part series – Infamous, Thoughtless, Careless, and Reckless.

Wikipedia admin: at home

I know other other allegations [about Zoe Quinn] exist but will not state what those on Wikipedia are because that would be a violation at the current time.

We need to be aware that there are other things the pro-Gamergate side would like Wikipedia to say [about Zoe Quinn] but we are nowhere close to having any sources to even speak of them, much less cover them. I don't believe any of said things are true in any remote way.

Wikipedia CEO: at Davos

I (and Wikipedia) neither support nor oppose Quinn. Wikipedia is not a battleground.

Zoe Quinn: in hiding

Every attempt gets cut short by some fresh, new, horrible news about someone trying to get into my accounts, a new asinine conspiracy theory being used as an excuse to dox people I went to high school with, friends freaking out because anonymous message board people are talking about how to mail them bombs, or just another death threat. At least the death threats have become somewhat routine.

Everything (chronological)