The Evolutionary Perspective of Cyberweapons

"Multiple high-profile critics-who were working hard to make a difference in the gaming industry, including Anita Sarkeesian, Zoe Quinn, and Brianna Wu-became targets of severe, threatening online attacks. These attacks were organized-and were largely carried out by individuals using anonymous accounts or pseudonyms. These targets were blasted with death threats, sexual harassment, and all kinds of unabashed cruelty. Using platforms such as Twitter and YouTube, these efforts, now referred to as trolling, had major adverse emotional effects on their targets."

"When feminist critics of the gaming industry spoke out about problems associated with misogynistic themes embedded in many video games, some people were not happy. Several gamers, who apparently did not want to hear feminist critiques of their favorite pastime, turned to the internet and fought back. Their efforts, now known as "Gamergate," represent, in many ways, the darkest of both the internet and human nature (see Mortensen and colleagues, 2020)."

Internet trolling functions as a modern form of coordinated rock throwing, enabled by anonymous communication and carried out with ill intent. Organized online campaigns such as Gamergate targeted feminist critics with death threats, sexual harassment, and sustained cruelty, producing major adverse emotional effects. Anonymous or pseudonymous accounts allow perpetrators to inflict harm without accountability. Evolved human psychology, including tendencies toward coalitional aggression and coordinated attack, helps explain why groups engage in online mob behaviors. Leaders in internet communication technology should account for evolved psychological drivers when designing platforms to reduce opportunities for organized, harmful trolling.

Read at Psychology Today