Women, Action, and Media (WAM) reporting tool and #GamerGate update

Note: I apologize for the length of this submission. The important part I wanted to get to was the new WAM twitter reporting tool that's being used to suspend prominent GamerGate supporters, discussed at the end, but I wanted to give a bit of an update for anyone that's unaware of what's taking place. If you're not interested in GamerGate, please skip to the end. Otherwise feel free to check out some of the resources I've compiled.

Disclosure: I am a supporter. I realize this is a polarized issue. I'm posting here to be informative, not inflammatory.

It's been awhile since anything was mentioned here about GamerGate. While not 100% relevant to the tech community, I believe it's become a huge fight against censorship and freedom of speech in general in the media and on the Internet. I thought I might do an update for Pipedot and Soylent for anyone that might be glancingly interested. Because of recent developments I feel this is quickly becoming an issue we will all be involved in.

We're well over two months in the GamerGate consumer revolt and starting to make great headway in finally getting the message out.

Accomplishments:
1) Operation Disrespectful Nod has had much success in getting many advisers to pull out of media publications such as Gamasutra, Polygon, Kotaku and parent Gawker Media

2) There is now lots of user generated content (blogs, youtube, memes and articles by smaller publications) demonstrating the diversity in members for the movement, feminist, anti-feminist, conservatives, liberals, male, female, black, white, LGBT and everything in between. This is a community that isn't going to go down easy.
GamerGate in 60 seconds
The Evidence and History of GamerGate
The Monsters of GG
NotYourShield - We Are Gamers

3) A couple publications have now updated their code of ethic policies including:
The Escapist
IGN is in the process

4) New Gaming sites are being established:
Good Gamers
Niche Gamer

5) New MetaCritic tool (MyMetaCritic) is under development

MyMediaCritic will provide a place for readers and consumers to rate the different online media outlets, journalists, and youtubers. Our initial alpha release will focus on the Games industry. Once the alpha is successful, we'll grow into other industries as well.

6) The David Pakman Show has started reporting on the controversy and trying to get to the bottom of the issue. Pakman has a series of informative interviews with both pro and anti #GamerGate supporters

David Pakman (opinion on #GamerGate) Makes it clear he is in neither camp

Brianna Wu received threats, alleged it was from #GamerGate supporters
Arthur Chu … I just don't know what to say about him without saying anything not nice ... He was good on Jeopardy.

List of neutral people:
Liana Kerzner, Canadian tech and gaming blogger
Matthew Rappard from The Fine Young Capitalists
Fredrick "Hot Wheels" Brennan, the Admin of 8Chan.co

List of supporters:
John Bain (AKA Total Biscuit)
Milo Yiannopoulos - recently banned from twitter using the new WAM tool, but unbanned this morning
Jennie Bharaj

Unfortunately for David many prominent people opposed to GamerGate would not interview with him and went as far as to accuse him of leading a hate mob.
From Nov 1. “Overnight, received many emails saying if I don't apologize for neutrality on GamerGate, I'm guilty of leading a hate mob against women”

7) When GamerGate supporters started questioning IGF judging practise one IGF judge had a “meltdown” on twitter and quit.
7a) IGF released an apology shortly after, after being hounded on twitter for "throwing the judge under the bus" for discussing the judging process and other judges started expressing displeasure and threatening to pull out of judging in protest.

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On to the good stuff:
Women, Action, and Media (WAM): Twitter teams with women's group on anti-harassment tool

A new, tangential GamerGate related, controversy has risen in response to the great GamerGate debate. WAM is a special interest group that has teamed up with twitter to create a new reporting tool that allows Twitter to censor harassment, specifically against women. In theory the tool sounds useful, it allows people to file reports with the WAM group where volunteers working with the organization can elevate the priority of abusive reports within twitters native reporting process.

However, in practice the tool is already being abused to report GamerGate supporters as a method of shutting down the revolt.

Next thing we'll be hearing is Anita Sarkeesian lobbying for broader social media tools that allow for further censorship without accountability... oh darn...