It’s About Ethics in Game Journalism
In August 2014, Eron Gjoni wrote a blog post about Zoe Quinn, his ex-girlfriend. This writing, which has come to be known simply as “The Zoepost” detailed the dissolution of their relationship, and suggested that Quinn had been unfaithful, and her career as a game designer had benefitted by relationships she had with influential men.
People lost their minds.
Gjoni’s post was the catalyst for a multi-year campaign of harassment against Quinn, who describes the ordeal in depth in her blog, unburnt witch. The abuse and harassment was so severe that Quinn’s life was majorly disrupted, professionally, socially, and psychologically. She suffered extensive trauma due to the nonstop barrage of doxing, harassment, and threats of rape and violence. She was also compelled to leave her home and to dissolve many personal and professional ties. As Quinn recounted to The Guardian: “I have people online bragging about putting dead animals through my mailbox. I’ve got some asshole in California who I’ve never talked to hiring a private investigator to stalk me. What am I going to do – go home and just wait until someone makes good on their threats? I’m scared that what it’s going to take to stop this is the death of one of the women who’s been targeted.”