Gamergate

The gaming world has been dominated by the male population for a very long time. They have had control over the creation and editing of the games, as well as the production, the distribution, and the playing of the games. More and more women are entering this male-led industry. Women are becoming designers, are becoming producers, and are becoming avid players.

On May 19th, the Massachusetts Appeals Court could not decide whether or not an ex-boyfriend's heinous writings about his ex-girlfriend online were protected by the First Amendment. The couple had broken up in 2014, and shortly thereafter Eron Gjoni (the ex-boyfriend) wrote a very crude blog post about Zoe Tiberius Quinn (the ex-girlfriend, who is a game developer, programmer, writer, and artist). Quinn had requested a restraining order, which would prevent Gjoni from posting anything else about her because Quinn was receiving threats against her from some of Gjoni's readers.

The Gamergate controversy came about when Quinn wanted the restraining order destroyed because the amount of threats increased exponentially. Gjoni wanted to "appeal his claim that the no posting requirement infringed on his First Amendment right."

So, the question is, do the First Amendment rights of Gjoni outweigh the safety of Quinn?

While I do feel that Gjoni has the right to publish whatever he wants, within reason, to his blog, I feel that it should not come at the expense of Quinn's safety. Everyone has the right to say whatever they want, but there are always consequences. Even if Gjoni was upset at the time of the break up, he should realize that his actions could put Quinn in serious jeopardy.