Trigger Warning: The
following blog post has been developed to quickly mass satirise some
of the worst members of the IGDA and those who follow these
offenders.
~
A
list identifying individuals who have allegedly participated in the
online harassment of women, along with details of these perpetrators'
families, friends, former primary school classmates, and people whose
names share the same initials, has surpassed a total of 7 billion.
The
list which is endorsed by the International Game Developers
Association (IGDA) is described as a tool to identify the “worst
offenders in a recent wave of harassment” along with those who
support them. In a statement released to the media the IGDA
proclaimed:
“An
end to harassment is finally within our grasp! Having been
singled-out, these toxic individuals can be publicly hounded from
polite society, barred from further employment and eventually herded
into giant gas ovens, all for the greater good of humanity.”
Elaborating
on these developments, a spokesperson for the organisation said:
“The
anti-harassment tool is part of a new wave of 'fird party' software.
Members of the IGDA took a first-hand role in developing the
algorithm. We then passed on responsibility for the end product to a
third party in case it proves to be unpopular and blows up in our
faces, as was literally the case when we attempted to create a
carbon-neutral, unisex energy drink for gamers, made from the
fermented semen of Phil Fish.
The
spokesperson continued:
“While
we were always quietly confident that our programmers would come up
with a really great piece of software, never in our wildest dreams
did we imagine that we would be successful in shining a light on over
7 billion vile internet trolls and their support networks. There is
now literally no place to hide.
“In
the past misogynist shitlords such as Imari – an African man who
scrapes a lonely existence in the Sahara desert - would have gone
unnoticed. Yet everyday for the past decade this repellent individual
has been an active participant in the harassment of women of colour.
“Imari
will often stand for hours outside the mud-brick hovel he calls home,
surveying the local landscape for the insects and reptiles that
provide him with sustenance. As the sun rises in the sky the shadow
of his penis creeps lecherously across the barren ground in the
direction of a town located 275 miles away. We believe this to be a
clear expression of his intent to commit multiple acts of rape.
“Thanks
to our new tool this man's days as an unchecked harasser will soon
draw to a close. No more will the innocent women of North Africa be
forced to cower in fear beneath the quivering shadow of his
semi-erect penis, as he stands secure in his isolated desert hideout
like a lascivious fleshy sundial.
“While
the IGDA does not explicitly support sealioning, in this particular
case we strongly advocate the doxxing of this individual and their
subsequent swatting by a team of Navy Seals. We will help to move
things along by telling them that he's Osama Bin Laden's evil twin
brother.”
Critics
of the tool have pointed out that it arbitrarily smears individuals
without proof, while the broad net cast by the algorithm effectively
renders the results meaningless.
Responding
to these comments, an IGDA spokesperson said:
“I
can confirm no partiality in regard to who appears on the blacklist.
I was surprised to find my own name included and
immediately sent myself a strongly-worded email demanding that it be
removed. The names of all my colleagues are also on the
list.”
Turning
to address his reflection in a nearby window, the spokesperson
slapped himself several times around the face while repeatedly
enquiring: “Why are you hitting yourself pissbaby?”
Chief
IGDA Troll Hunter, Troy Marx, cautioned that the elimination of all
harassment, while an achievable goal, may still be a long way off:
“The
list is only the beginning. We must now commence the Herculean task
of weeding out these harassers from our communities. We must also draw up
plans for their indefinite relocation in internment camps.
“We
will begin by focusing on the worst offenders. Our hope is that by
removing these charismatic figures in the troll community we can
destabilise the sophisticated, highly-organised hierarchies that
have, for too long, allowed these shitlords to get away with their
acts of harassment.
“Our
investigators are currently homing-in on the whereabouts of a
mysterious figure known only as the Colonel. We believe this
individual to be the mastermind behind Gamergate and the final boss
in our war against this terrorist organisation.”
Proffering
an artist's sketch, depicting the Colonel as a bespectacled
white-haired old man, wearing a shirt bearing the initials 'KFC', the
grizzled Marx continued:
“While
some members of the IGDA believe these initials refer to the
Colonel's real name, it is my contention that they are in fact a
monogrammed expression of this man's intent to 'kill feminist
culture'. Parents who overhear their children talking about KFC in
favourable terms should report immediately to the nearest
IGDA-sanctioned re-education facility.
Admitting
that intelligence on the Colonel was scarce, Marx continued:
“We
believe this individual has been able to secure influence over a great swathe
of the global population by means of a mind control drug made from a
secret blend of eleven herbs and spices.
“It
also appears that, when he is not personally orchestrating online
harassment campaigns, the Colonel's main pre-occupation lie in inventing
new euphemisms for male genitalia. These include the 'Supercharger',
the 'Fillet tower', the 'Zinger', the 'Boneless dip', the 'Toasted
twister' and the 'Kid's mini fillet.'
“IGDA
analysts suspect that this may be a calculated attempt by the
patriarchy to create so many colloquialisms for the penis that
existing words will have to be removed from the dictionary to make
room for them – words like 'woman', 'problematic', and
'harassment'.
“This
theory is supported by the unflattering and demeaning terms the
Colonel has so-far created to describe the female reproductive
organs; expressions such as the 'Bargain bucket' and the 'Ultimate
dips box'.
Jamie
Porter - a 16 year old PlayStation 4 owner from Margate, England,
said:
“As
has historically been the case with all man-made monsters, I predict
that the IGDA's anti-harassment algorithm will turn eventually turn
upon its creators, ruthlessly tearing them asunder with its flailing
metal pincers, while vocally declaring its intent to destroy all
social justice warriors.”
Porter
went on to state his firm belief that the Gamergate movement was
“made out of sex and win.”