Gamer[H]ate

Hate destroys the very structure of the personality of the hater. [...] when you start hating anybody, it destroys the very center of your creative response to life and the universe; so love everybody. Hate at any point is a cancer that gnaws away at the very vital center of your life and your existence. It is like eroding acid that eats away the best and the objective center of your life.

— Martin Luther King, Jr.[a]

A movement is not defined as much by what it claims to be about, but what it actually does and doesn't do. All movements have extremists, some violent. What sets movements apart is how those are dealt with. Are extremists actively confronted, is extremism actively discouraged? Or are the extremists ignored and allowed to continue while the rest merely shrug an go "oh yeah that guy is crazy", thereby giving them a place where they do not feel opposed, and letting them proceed with their vile work under a cover of legitimacy passively given by the others?

Those who align themselves with the GamerGate movement should ask themselves how their movement act. Because the threats are so ubiquitous[b] as to be properly called terrorism[c].

The previous two links are about threats against women, but that's not really what this is about. If 50% of the population can't feel safe in IT, then nobody can. This is about all of us. It's just the women taking all the damage now. Those of us who want a peaceful culture not run by the biggest bully are next.

Just as my freedom to swing my fist ends at your face, my right to speak ends when I use it as a mere tool to threaten you. It's not enough to just want to engage in a reasoned, civilized debate - we must also challenge those who have let hate erode their brains.