I’m Brianna Wu, and I’m risking my life standing up to Gamergate

Software increasingly defines the world around us. It’s rewriting everything about human interaction – I spend a lot more time on my iPhone than I do at my local civic center. Facebook, Apple, Tinder, Snapchat, and Google create our social realities – how we make friends, how we get jobs, and how mankind interacts. And the truth is, women don’t truly have a seat at the table.

This has disastrous consequences for women that use these systems built by men for men. I must use Twitter, as it’s a crucial networking tool for a software engineer, yet I must also suffer constant harassment. Women’s needs are not heard, our truth is never spoken. These systems are the next frontier of human evolution, and they’re increasingly dangerous for us.

You can close your eyes for this. You can cover your ears, shouting “LA LA LA LA!” at the top of your voice. You are free to do so.

Until it’s your daughter, and you realise that your refusal to acknowledge this huge problem will have consequences.

151 Comments

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