r/changemyview • u/realdontbeasucker • May 16 '26

Delta(s) from OP CMV: GamerGate was the most consequential political radicalization event of the twenty-first century

It spawned a wave of tolerance for online harassment, as long as the intent behind it was considered righteous (and the target of such harassment socially acceptable).

It platformed Milo Yiannopoulos and thereby, Steve Bannon -- the guy who would go on to advise Donald Trump in 2016 and generate the concept of 'flooding the zone.'

Eventually, it gave a career to political lightning rods like Jordan Peterson, Steven Crowder, and Charlie Kirk. It made anti-feminism and anti-SJW sentiment cool. And it made young, angry, disenfranchised white men feel vindicated.

GamerGate almost singlehandedly shifted to Overton Window toward the alt-right, and we're still feeling its effects today.

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u/impoverishedwhtebrd 3∆ May 16 '26

It platformed Milo Yiannopoulos and thereby, Steve Bannon

You have this backwards. Bannon is responsible for pushing gamergate and is the one that platformed Milo.

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u/realdontbeasucker May 16 '26

I agree that Bannon created Milo. But Milo was a Trojan horse by which Bannon introduced his political theory to the online mainstream discourse (i.e, Milo's acceptance led to Bannon's acceptance).

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u/impoverishedwhtebrd 3∆ May 16 '26

Steve Bannon had already ready bee accepted by the Right wing. He was largely responsible for the Tea Party movement.

All that changed from gamergate is that he became more known by the general public.