Back in August 2014, the misogynistic online campaign that became known as Gamergate was something that bubbled up in the anonymous, dark corners of the internet that only a select few even knew existed. Ten years later, the tactics used against Gamergate targets like Zoë Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian—boosting lies, coordinated harassment, hateful memes—are entrenched in the playbook of the right. So much so that when US vice president Kamala Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, the attacks didn’t originate from some anonymous troll—they came from inside the House.
Representative Tim Burchett, a Republican from Tennessee, called Harris a “DEI hire” in a post on X. Wisconsin Republican Representative Glenn Grothman told a local media outlet that Democrats “feel they have to stick with her because of her ethnic background.” Former president Donald Trump labeled Harris a “radical, left lunatic” and “nasty.”
Taking their cues from elected lawmakers and leaders in the Republican Party, the right-wing attack machine kicked into gear, quickly escalating things further. Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who is closely allied with the Trump campaign, baselessly labeled Harris “an escort” and a “prostitute” who has slept her way to the top.
Many others focused on the fact that Harris is a woman who has not given birth, a crime they seem to believe makes her ineligible to be president. In recent weeks, a 2021 comment from Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, currently Trump’s running mate, has been shared widely. In it, Vance compared Harris to “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives.”
Eventually, these attacks spread to Telegram and pro-Trump message boards, where the comments about Harris transformed into threats of rape and physical harm.
For those who remember Gamergate, this playbook is all too familiar. Back in 2014, whole harassment campaigns were aimed at developers and commentators who sought to broaden women’s place in gaming. The tactics used eventually “became embedded into the MAGA movement” and “seeped into the fabric of US democracy,” says Nora Benavidez, senior counsel at Free Press, an advocacy group that supports an open internet.
“We’ve seen the slow acceptance by the American public and by our institutions of what should have been, and I think should still be, absolutely inappropriate and unacceptable rhetoric and treatment of women and of others,” Benavidez adds.
In the decade since Gamergate began, the harassment of women has not only increased, it has become mainstream and part of American politics, particularly in the Republican Party. Participants now take their lead from Trump rather than a 4chan thread.
Efforts to intimidate officials occur at all levels. A recent survey out of Princeton University found that threats against local officials increased 55 percent in the last two years. Women and minority officials reported receiving more threats than their counterparts, and “nearly one in five women officials worry about attacks on them or their family compared to one in 10 men,” according to a summary of the study’s findings.
Social media companies have promised to do better, but in recent years they have all but washed their hands of the problem. Rather than banning the accounts spreading hatred, they have embraced them. Elon Musk has given a full-throated endorsement of Trump and has welcomed back white supremacists, racists, and antisemites onto X.
