𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗛𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗛𝗮𝘀𝗵𝘁𝗮𝗴𝘀: 𝗔𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗴𝘆𝗻𝘆

𝘉𝘺 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘢 𝘗. 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘢

The internet was supposed to set us free. It promised connection, community, and a democratization of knowledge. For many, it delivered. For women, it delivered something else: a battleground where ancient hatreds wear new masks.

This report examines two moments: Gamergate (2014) and the rise of AI deepfakes (2020s), and argues that online misogyny is not new.

It is an ancient hatred that mutates. When we block one form, it grows another, and shows how misogyny adapts to whatever technology is available.

In August 2014, video game developer Zoë Quinn’s ex-boyfriend published a blog post falsely insinuating she had traded sex for a positive review. The post spread to 4chan, where users had already targeted Quinn for her game Depression Quest — a text-based game about mental health that offended gamers who saw it as “political.”

What followed was coordinated, large-scale harassment.

Quinn, feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian, and developer Brianna Wu were doxxed, received rape and death threats, and were driven from their homes. Sarkeesian canceled a Utah State University speech after a threat promised “a Montreal Massacre style attack” with “a semi-automatic rifle, multiple pistols, and a collection of pipe bombs.”

Gamergate proponents claimed to be fighting for “ethics in journalism.” Media commentators widely dismissed this as a cover for misogyny.

The movement established playbooks still used today: weaponizing anonymity, manufacturing outrage, and systematically driving women from public spaces. It has since been credited with contributing to the rise of the alt-right.

A decade later, the technology evolved, but the target did not.

Deepfakes. AI-generated images placing real women’s faces onto porn first appeared in 2017. By 2023, there were approximately 95,820 deepfake videos online, a 550% increase from 2019.

Of these, 98% were pornographic, and 99% targeted women and girls. According to UN Women, 90–95% of all deepfakes online are non-consensual pornography.

The scale is staggering. In 2024, 34 million AI images were generated daily. 34 identified non-consensual synthetic intimate imagery services received over 24 million unique visitors in a single month, with a 2,000% increase in promotional links on platforms like Reddit and X since early 2023. At least 52 Telegram groups dedicated to these services have accumulated more than 1 million users. In the UK, an estimated 4,000 celebrities have become victims. In South Korea, 53% of individuals in deepfake porn are singers and actresses.

Ash, a veteran digital native for more than 15 years, brings this into focus:

“My friend was targeted with deepfakes by her ex-boyfriend. I didn’t realize how huge those pass-around channels were until I saw them firsthand. A woman engaging in sexual experiences is immoral, while a man doing it is fine.”

There was a pattern being emitted, a sick desire for control. Control over women’s bodies. Control over who gets to speak. Control over who belongs.

She names three enablers common to both eras:

1. Anonymity — no social consequences for cruelty.

2. Algorithms — hate drives engagement, so platforms amplify it.

3. Echo chambers — misogyny becomes group identity, normalized through repetition.

Ruby, an artist whose creative practice is rooted in online platforms like Facebook and Discord, adds: “People are more comfortable being disrespectful behind a screen now. Nasty jokes are thrown left and right for a petty share of likes.”

Ash warns that deepfakes will become undetectable. The “liar’s dividend” means abusers can now claim any real content is fake. A threat amplified by cuts to platform trust and safety teams since 2020.

The radicalization pipeline concerns her deeply. Figures like Andrew Tate weaponize male loneliness and insecurity, framing feminism as an attack. In France, an 18-year-old influenced by incel rhetoric was recently charged with terrorism; the first case motivated exclusively by hatred of women.

“There isn’t much that gives me hope. The problem only seems to be getting worse,” Ash predicts solemnly.

Online misogyny is a hydra. Cut off one head — public harassment — and two grow back: private deepfakes, encrypted channels, algorithmic radicalization. It evolves faster than laws or platforms can stop it. 52% of young men now believe “men are being targeted,” a statistic that should terrify anyone paying attention.

The consequence: Women must calculate risk before existing anywhere — in gaming, on social media, even in their own relationships. What should keep us alert is the slow, deliberate warning that comes up every time: “Silence enables this.”

The friends who know about pass-around channels but say nothing. The platforms that act slowly. The leaders who model cruelty and call it free speech.

Misogyny doesn’t disappear. It mutates. We’re fighting the same war with different weapons.

𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦:

Wikipedia. (2025). Gamergate (harassment campaign). https://en.wikipedia.org/.../Gamergate_(harassment_campaign)

Britannica. (2023). Gamergate. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gamergate-campaign

Deepfake Statistics (2020s)

Columbia SIPA. (2024). Journalist Emanuel Maiberg Addresses AI and the Rise of Deepfake Pornography. https://igp.sipa.columbia.edu/news/rise-deepfake-pornography

San Francisco Chronicle. (2025). 99% of nonconsensual sexual deepfakes target women and girls. https://www.sfchronicle.com/.../99-nonconsensual-sexual...

RTVE. (2026). La UE aprueba una enmienda para prohibir los ‘deepfakes’ sexuales. https://www.rtve.es/.../ue-aprueba.../16979185.shtml

The Guardian. (2026). Millions created deepfake nudes on Telegram as AI tools drive global wave of digital abuse. https://www.theguardian.com/.../millions-creating...