Ryan Carlson
Ryan is a passionate gamer who is conflicted about whether he should become the Ubermensch or a Ghost In the Machine. Maybe his answer will be found in the Golden Mean.
Richard Stanton is a video game journalist who writes for the left-wing British broadsheet the Guardian. On Wednesday night, Stanton wrote a series of Tweets calling people who support GamerGate pathetic losers. He also said that he will gladly challenge any GamerGate supporter to a fight and that he will knock you out.
The Tweets
With just two tweets, Richard Stanton has done the impossible and displayed just how ignorant he is about the GamerGate movement. First, he assumes that every person who supports GamerGate is male. This has been proven false through the #NotYourShield Twitter movement that happened months ago. #NotYourShield showed that many women and minorities support the GamerGate movement because they too want ethics in journalism. Richard Stanton is saying that he would gladly knock out women and other minorities who support GamerGate.
As if threatening to punch men, women, and minorities who support Gamergate was bad enough, Stanton pours salt on the wound by tweeting, “You’re all absolute cunts #GamerGate.” Now what is confusing about Stanton is how much hate he has for a movement he doesn’t even understand. Through these two tweets, he has unknowingly alienated a large portion of GamerGaters who are men, women, and minorities.
Being ignorant of important video game movements is bad enough for Stanton, but he has also displayed major cowardice. Because of all the backlash that he is getting from his tweets, he’s resorted to using Randi Harper’s GG Auto Blocker to block any criticism from the GamerGaters he insulted. His “tough guy” persona has been revealed to be a sham with this move because he needs a blocker to silence the people he has criticized. This is a supremely cowardly move. Richard Stanton possesses both a shocking ignorance and a huge yellow streak.
Who Is Richard Stanton?
The above photo of Richard Stanton is from his own LinkedIn profile. He is the guy featured in the top right of the photo. I have watched my fair share of UFC title fights and it doesn’t look like he can beat anyone up. A guy who needs a Twitter blocker to prevent people he has insulted from firing back won’t be able to last in a real fight. It should be very easy for a GamerGater to take him up on his offer and challenge him to a fight with the victor getting all the money.
With every Tweet, Richard Stanton continues to prove why we need GamerGate. He is a gaming journalist and he keeps showing how uninformed he is about the needs of gamers. He argues that people will regret being apart of GamerGate with this tweet, “Everything I’ve said tonight is true. All you GG-ers will regret being part of this movement when you’re older, but right now? Fuck you.”
What he doesn’t realize is it is not the people involved in GamerGate who will regret standing up for ethics in video game journalism. It is Richard Stanton who will regret saying he will gladly assault men, women, and minorities who support the GamerGate movement. Historically, journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are famous for breaking the Watergate scandal involving President Richard Nixon. The people who support the GamerGate movement today will be remembered for their work for ethical video game journalism.
Richard Stanton cannot use the GG Auto Blocker to save him from the consequences of ignorant Tweets and cowardly actions. The GamerGate movement will knock him out for his insults and it will knock out corruption in video game journalism.
Read More: Richard Dawkins Learns About #GamerGate After Finding Himself Targeted By Block Bot
