Unless you’re a dork, you will have no idea what “net neutrality” means, although chances are you’ve seen a headline about it in the last few days. Fortunately for you, I am a dork. So let me explain as simply as
In all of the distracting, hysterical, evidence-free and unfair allegations of misogyny and bigotry hurled at supporters of GamerGate, the consumer revolt that continues to surface outrageous misconduct in the video games press, something is being forgotten. GamerGate is remarkable—and
A landmark legal ruling in the UK threatens to criminalise mums-to-be for drinking while pregnant. And although the case that sparked this judgment is undoubtedly horrific, I’m just as worried about the law of unintended consequences… not least because drinking
You’ve probably, at some time in your life, considered showing up to a fancy dress party as a Red Indian–or, as we’re obliged to call them these days, a “Native American.” You probably didn’t then consider the delicate racial politics
Our national governments’ collective appetite for space travel has waned considerably in the past few decades: as citizens have grown restless and dissatisfied with their elected representatives and a series of terrorist attacks and financial crises have forced leaders to
Britain’s spy agency GCHQ has said that social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube are the “command and control networks of choice” for terrorism and that the companies which run them must do more to help combat extremism.
Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple, announced today in BusinessWeek that he is gay. The news surprised no one: Cook’s sexuality has been an open secret in the tech industry for years. But perhaps now he’s revealed himself, we’ll see
Wonderful news for concerned Ebola-watchers everywhere: according to the National Center for Homeopathy, a crack team of sugar pill-wielding charlatans is on its way to West Africa to begin “clinical trials.” Says the NCH: “We applaud and congratulate this team’s
Bizarre, ill-fated business ideas such as Dattch, the “lesbian social network,” are being granted places in high-profile corporate accelerators, while ordinary heterosexual sexuality is being policed like never before at prominent gatherings of entrepreneurs, investors and journalists. What’s going wrong
One question supporters of GamerGate, the consumer revolt against shoddy ethics and bias in video games journalism, often ask me is what a successful campaign outcome might look like. Based on my experience in online media, here’s where I think
Adobe, Mercedes and BMW are among the brands understood to have reconsidered relationships with Gawker in response to consumer activism that has cost the publisher thousands of dollars already, according to editor-in-chief Max Read. Gawker has responded to mass withdrawals
“I was Patient Zero,” intoned Monica Lewinsky at the Forbes 30 Under 30 summit this week. (Monica is 41.) “I was the first person to have their reputation completely destroyed worldwide via the internet.” She promptly joined Twitter, and started
One of the things people said would happen with the GamerGate consumer revolt, whose stated aim is to raise standards in video games journalism, is that after an initial flurry of haphazard activism, and a few scary “misogynist” allegations, the
“FEMINIST” blared the stage behind Beyoncé at MTV’s Video Music Awards in August this year. No true megastar would feel the need to declare themselves on the subject one way or another, but the stunt was typical of the neediest,
Few who saw Nobel prize winner Malala Yousafzai – the 17-year-old Pakistani girl who was nearly killed by the Taliban and who then went on to become an activist for female education – finger-wagging about the frivolousness of social media will
Tory MP Brooks Newmark has announced he will not stand again for Parliament next year, following revelations that he had a 2-year-long affair and sexted multiple young girls including a reporter posing as a young girl. It was a horrible
You can’t wage guerrilla warfare armed only with flak cannons. But that’s precisely what the gaming and tech media are trying to do with GamerGate, a consumer revolt against unethical press practices that is striking terror into the heart of
Even with the extravagant, all-expenses-paid parties, consumer electronics companies and games developers don’t hand out cash enough to pay the rent, whinges GameJournoPros founder Kyle Orland in another tranche of leaked emails from the game industry’s private mailing list. The
Everyone dissembles on the internet, whether little white lies on dating sites or whoppers on anonymous forums. The odd harmless bit of embroidery in real life helps to keep conversation sparkling, or avoid awkward moments. But, increasingly, untruths are used
Over the weekend, I lost a bet. So I had to sing “America the Beautiful” live to 750 hardcore gamers. Their reaction – kind remarks about my singing voice aside – was extraordinary. An outpouring of “USA! USA” and other
The best sex is transgressive. It breaks rules. Sometimes, the impulse to be deviant or sexually disruptive can turn to dysfunction, as in the case of paedophiles or rapists. But in all sexual contact, however tepid and domesticated, there is
In what might be the last ever #GameJournoPros email thread, games journalists can be seen mocking readers who considered the list to be an unhealthy component in the video games journalism industry’s echo chamber. These emails have not previously been seen. The
On Saturday, we reported that journalist and former sex worker Brooke Magnanti, who shot to fame under the pen name Belle de Jour, had been accused of sockpuppeting by London barrister Anya Palmer. Now allegations have surfaced that Magnanti plagiarised
Dr Brooke Magnanti, a journalist and former scientist, has been accused of creating a fake pseudonymous Twitter account with which to ridicule, criticise and insult other female journalists and promote her own articles and opinions. Magnanti, a former regular for
Some men will do literally anything to get laid. Witness the outpouring of support among sexually-frustrated dickless wonders for #HeForShe, an attempt by the United Nations to get men on board with feminism. This mission is necessary, in case you
“Fencing” is the buying or selling of stolen goods. As with most imaginable topics and persuasions, there are fencing communities on reddit, the popular internet message board. But what’s remarkable about the fencers on this particular site is how brazen
Ben Kuchera, opinion editor at games website Polygon, publicised lurid sexual allegations about the chief executive of Stardock, a 20-year video games industry veteran, in an apparent attempt to do professional damage to someone he perceived to have right-wing politics,
Last week, Breitbart News revealed a secret video game journalist mailing list used by a clique of influential writers, editors, and bloggers, some of whom attempted to bully their colleagues with it in an attempt to shape the news agenda for political purposes. We can today
I’ve never been cheated on, obviously. But I know a cheater when I see one, which is perhaps why I’ve been invited to host and judge the first National Adultery Awards later this month. The Awards are run by Illicit
In light of our revelations about the secret gaming journalism mailing list GameJournoPros, few can doubt that damaging groupthink has taken hold of the video games journalism establishment. But quite how absurdly close to their subjects some gaming journalists are has
Several prominent gaming journalists across America are part of a secret mailing list on which they discuss what to cover, what to ignore, and what approach their coverage should take to breaking news, Breitbart London can reveal. High-profile editors, reporters,
Several prominent gaming journalists across America are part of a secret mailing list on which they discuss what to cover, what to ignore, and what approach their coverage should take to breaking news, Breitbart London can reveal. High-profile editors, reporters,
Have they cut it off yet? The penis attached to traitorous transsexual Chelsea Manning, I mean. How else to explain the level of feverish disturbance necessary for the former Private Bradley to pen an op-ed saying we should “let ISIS
Picture the two. One is a bland, middle-aged act, coasting on former success but still wildly profitable among old white men with spreading waistlines. The other is rock band U2. On the face of it, Bono and his bandmates represent
The video game community is perhaps the most inclusive, gender neutral and colourblind on the internet. It’s also remarkably diverse, producing such offbeat pleasures as My Ex-Boyfriend The Space Tyrant and Gender Bender DNA Twister Extreme. So it was a strange
If I were a video games journalist, I’d be terrified right now, because I’d know that, for all my shrill protestations, sneering and arrogance, my industry had just entered a death spiral entirely of its own making. The video game
Can Russell Brand’s awful choice of friends and colleagues explain what Max Wind-Cowie, writing in the Catholic Herald, calls his “dangerous ignorance”? Yes, I think it can, if he’s taking moral or intellectual cues from the sort of people who
“According to Mattel, women are supermodel thin, have luscious locks, pearly white teeth and pert boobs as well as a successful career. It’s simply not true,” thunders Joanna Davies on the Guardian’s Women in Leadership network, in response to the
Owen Jones is being trolled. No, don’t all rush for the tissues at once. What’s happened is that Jones’s new book, The Establishment, was targeted by what the Lefty author calls “right-wing trolls.” One-star reviews appeared on Amazon within hours
