Privacy violation, Gamergate, and political transformation
Owens launched SocialAutopsy.com in 2016, a website she said would expose bullies on the Internet by tracking their digital footprint.[2][4][11] The site would have solicited users to take screenshots of offensive posts and send them to the website, where they would be categorized by the user's name.[11] She used crowdfunding on Kickstarter for the website.
The proposal was immediately controversial, drawing criticism that Owens was de-anonymizing (doxing) Internet users and violating their privacy.[2][23] According to The Daily Dot, "People from all sides of the anti-harassment debate were quick to criticize the database, calling it a public shaming list that would encourage doxing and retaliatory harassment."[24] Both conservatives and progressives involved in the Gamergate controversy condemned the website.[2]
In response, people began posting Owens' private details online.[2] Owens blamed, with scant evidence, the doxing on progressives involved in the Gamergate controversy.[2][23] After this, she earned the support of conservatives involved in the Gamergate controversy, including right-wing political commentators and Trump supporters Milo Yiannopoulos and Mike Cernovich.[2] After this, Owens became a conservative, saying in 2017, "I became a conservative overnight ... I realized that liberals were actually the racists. Liberals were actually the trolls ... Social Autopsy is why I'm conservative".[2]
Kickstarter suspended funding for Social Autopsy, and the website was never created.[23]
Owens launched SocialAutopsy.com in 2016, a website she said would expose bullies on the Internet by tracking their digital footprint.[2][4][11] The site would have solicited users to take screenshots of offensive posts and send them to the website, where they would be categorized by the user's name.[11] She used crowdfunding on Kickstarter for the website.
The proposal was immediately controversial, drawing criticism that Owens was de-anonymizing (doxing) Internet users and violating their privacy.[2][23] According to The Daily Dot, "People from all sides of the anti-harassment debate were quick to criticize the database, calling it a public shaming list that would encourage doxing and retaliatory harassment."[24] Both conservatives and progressives involved in the Gamergate controversy condemned the website.[2]
In response, people began posting Owens' private details online.[2] Owens blamed, with scant evidence, the doxing on progressives involved in the Gamergate controversy.[2][23] After this, she earned the support of conservatives involved in the Gamergate controversy, including right-wing political commentators and Trump supporters Milo Yiannopoulos and Mike Cernovich.[2] After this, Owens became a conservative, saying in 2017, "I became a conservative overnight ... I realized that liberals were actually the racists. Liberals were actually the trolls ... Social Autopsy is why I'm conservative".[2]
Kickstarter suspended funding for Social Autopsy, and the website was never created.[23]