The movement is difficult to define because what it has come to represent has no central leadership or agreed-upon manifesto.
The GamerGate movement and Twitter hashtag is a social campaign defined by most supporters as a call to effect change in video game journalism and to defend the 'gamer' identity. Premiering in 1999, SVU primarily focuses on crimes involving sexual assault.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (usually shortened SVU) is a spin-off of long-running crime drama Law & Order. 'Raina refuses to delay the launch, and the cops must 'level up' to protect her,' reads the official description. The episode covers a woman game developer who is preparing to launch her first game only to be met with 'a stream of online insults, intimidation and death threats from the male-dominated gaming community.' Another woman developer is assaulted at a gaming convention, leading to intervention from series mainstay Detective Tutuola (played by Ice-T). Now the harassment that springs from GamerGate will be showcased in an unexpected new place: NBC crime drama Law & Order: SVU.Īccording to fan blog All Things Law and Order, an episode of Law & Order: SVU titled 'Intimidation Game' will air next month. The social media campaign known as GamerGate has been in the mainstream eye nearly since its inception, with coverage from outlets ranging from The New York Times to CNN.
