The Internet Is a Hunting Ground for Trans People
Years from now, we will all, probably, remember where we were when the famously transphobic children’s entertainer J.K. Rowling released a novel 300 pages longer than Infinite Jest about a kids’ entertainer who is harassed to death for being transphobic. Personally, most of the trans people I knew were campaigning take down a website called KiwiFarms. I am typing KiwiFarms’ name now only because that effort was more or less successful. Last Sunday, after a campaign spearheaded by Twitch streamer Clara Sorrentini, domain registrar Cloudflare blocked the site. Site owner Joshua Moon now says it will likely be impossible for the site to continue in its present form. When the site was live, it was a forum that existed for the sole and explicit purpose of stalking and terrorizing marginalized people. KiwiFarms users tended to characterize their targets as “mentally ill;” in practice, they tended to pick on autistic people, neurodivergent people more generally, and, with particular and brutal fury, on trans people, some of whom died as a result. At least three people have committed suicide because of KiwiFarms harassment, including the developer Near, who explicitly blamed KiwiFarms in their suicide note. A mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand was directly linked to the site. There has been other damage, less lethal damage, and I will never be able to list it all: Trans people have lost jobs. They’ve been sexually assaulted via leaked nudes. I know of at least one trans person who had their home invaded, and was raped, after KiwiFarms posted their address. Countless trans people have disappeared from social media or gone into hiding after being targeted.
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