Jump to content

Kiwi Farms: Difference between revisions

Page extended-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→History: + source
infobox. See TP.
Tag: Reverted
Line 11: Line 11:
| language = English, with the exception of the "Internationale Clique" subforum for non-English discussions
| language = English, with the exception of the "Internationale Clique" subforum for non-English discussions
| owner = Joshua "Null" Moon<ref>{{Cite web|date=December 7, 2020|title=Kiwi Farms says it will shut down if Section 230 is repealed|url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/kiwi-farms-section-230-repeal/|access-date=June 28, 2021|website=The Daily Dot|archive-date=February 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226074151/https://www.dailydot.com/debug/kiwi-farms-section-230-repeal/|url-status=live}}</ref>
| owner = Joshua "Null" Moon<ref>{{Cite web|date=December 7, 2020|title=Kiwi Farms says it will shut down if Section 230 is repealed|url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/kiwi-farms-section-230-repeal/|access-date=June 28, 2021|website=The Daily Dot|archive-date=February 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226074151/https://www.dailydot.com/debug/kiwi-farms-section-230-repeal/|url-status=live}}</ref>
| url = [https://kiwifarms.ru kiwifarms.ru]
| commercial = Yes
| commercial = Yes
| registration = Optional (required to participate)
| registration = Optional (required to participate)

Revision as of 19:04, 4 September 2022

Kiwi Farms
Type of site
Forum
Available inEnglish, with the exception of the "Internationale Clique" subforum for non-English discussions
OwnerJoshua "Null" Moon[1]
URLkiwifarms.ru
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional (required to participate)
LaunchedFebruary 4, 2013; 11 years ago (2013-02-04)

Kiwi Farms, formerly known as CWCki Forums (/ˈkwɪki/), is an American Internet forum dedicated to the discussion and harassment of online figures and communities. Their targets, usually transgender or neurodivergent people, are often subject to organized group trolling and stalking, as well as doxxing and real-life harassment.[2][3][4] These actions have tied Kiwi Farms to the suicides of three people targeted by users of the site.[10]

Kiwi Farms' connection to several controversies and harassment campaigns has caused the forum to be blocked by Internet service providers or refused service by companies. After the Christchurch mosque shootings, the site was blocked in New Zealand; in 2021, after the suicide of someone they were targeting, DreamHost stopped providing their domain registration services. The following year, their DDoS protection, provided by Cloudflare, was cancelled due to the continued harassment of streamer Clara "Keffals" Sorrenti.

History

A webcam photo of Joshua Moon holding two fingers in the air and holding a copy of the Bible in the other hand
Kiwi Farms founder and owner Joshua "Null" Moon

Kiwi Farms was founded by Joshua Moon (known as "Null" on the website), a former 8chan administrator.[11] It was originally launched as a forum website to troll and harass a webcomic artist who was first noticed in 2007 on a 4chan video game board.[2][12]: 8–9  Eventually, an Encyclopedia Dramatica page was created about the artist. A dedicated wiki, titled "CWCki" based on the artist's initials, was created by people who felt that the Encyclopedia Dramatica entry was not detailed or accurate enough.[2] Kiwi Farms was originally called "CWCki Forums"[13] before "Kiwi Farms" was coined in 2014.[2]

Following the March 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, Kiwi Farms was blocked by New Zealand Internet service providers after Moon denied a request by New Zealand Police to voluntarily hand over data on posts relating to the shooting.[14][11] Following the June 2021 suicide of Near, a software developer who had been a target of harassment from Kiwi Farms users, DreamHost gave the site owner notice that they would no longer provide domain registration services. Kiwi Farms subsequently began using a Russian registrar.[15] Shortly thereafter, it was moved to an American-based domain registrar.[9]

Kiwi Farms used DDoS protection services from Cloudflare, an American hosting and web security service provider. Following Kiwi Farms' harassment campaign against Canadian streamer, political activist, and transgender activist Clara "Keffals" Sorrenti, a campaign was started to try to convince Cloudflare to stop providing services to the site.[16][17] While the company initially defended their decision to keep working with the site, on September 3, 2022, they officially blocked Kiwi Farms from using its services.[18][19] People attempting to visit the site saw an error message explaining that the decision had been made due to "an imminent and emergency threat to human life".[20][21] Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince stated that the company acted because "the rhetoric on the Kiwifarms site and specific, targeted threats [had] escalated over the last 48 hours" at the time of the decision.[21][19]

Harassment

The targets of Kiwi Farms threads are often subject to organized group trolling, harassment, and stalking, including real-life harassment by users.[2][4] Tactics include publishing their victims' personal information ("doxing"), trying to get them fired from their jobs, reporting crimes at their addresses in an attempt to have police dispatched to their homes ("swatting"), and harassing their family members and friends. Some of Kiwi Farms' harassment campaigns have continued for months or years, and some aim to drive the targets to suicide.[3] The website originated to harass an autistic and transgender webcomic artist, but now hosts threads dedicated to harassing many individuals—particularly minorities, women, LGBT people, neurodivergent people, and people considered by Kiwi Farms users to be mentally ill or sexually deviant.[2][3]

Canadian streamer, political activist, and transgender activist Clara "Keffals" Sorrenti was swatted, arrested, and detained for over ten hours in August 2022 when someone stole her identity and sent fake emails to local politicians threatening mass violence. She was later cleared of any wrongdoing, and police acknowledged the incident as a swatting attempt. She had been doxed on Kiwi Farms, where her physical address, email address, and other personal information was posted to a thread dedicated to discussing her. Users also posted the address of an unrelated man who lives in the same city and shares her last name, and police were also sent to his residence. After the swatting incident, Sorrenti said she moved out of her home and into a hotel for her safety.[22][23] After she posted a photograph of her cat laying on the hotel bed, Kiwi Farms users identified the hotel from the bedsheets in the photograph, and sent multiple pizza orders to the hotel under her deadname. "Obviously, the pizza itself isn't the problem. It's the threat they send by telling me they know where I live and are willing to act on it in the real world," she said in a video after the incident.[22][23][24] Sorrenti later fled the country after her location was identified again, reportedly by someone who hacked her Uber account.[25] The incidents are being investigated as criminal harassment, and Sorrenti stated she intended to pursue legal action.[23][26][27] Sorrenti also promoted a campaign to pressure Cloudflare into terminating its services to the website.[3] Cloudflare dropped support for Kiwi Farms on September 3, 2022, citing imminent threats to targets of harassment. According to Cloudflare, while law enforcement was evaluating the threats, they had escalated to a point that it could no longer wait for law enforcement to act.[20]

Suicides of harassment targets

Harassment campaigns by Kiwi Farms users are known to have contributed to the suicides of three individuals.[10] The Kiwi Farms community considers it a goal to drive its targets to suicide, and has celebrated such deaths with a counter on the website.[12]: 55, 61  They have used social media reporting systems to mass-report posts by harassment targets in which they've expressed suicidal thoughts or intentions, with the goal of reducing the possibility their targets receive help.[12]: 91 

In 2013, American video game developer Chloe Sagal became a Kiwi Farms target after Eurogamer reported Sagal's Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign had been flagged for "suspicious activity". Sagal had raised over $30,000 on the platform for metal poisoning treatment to remove shrapnel from a car accident, but Eurogamer reported that Sagal had actually intended to use the proceeds for sex reassignment surgery. Sagal later died via self-immolation on June 19, 2018,[28][29] which several reports attributed to years of harassment from Kiwi Farms.[4][6][30]

Julie Terryberry, a Canadian woman, died by suicide in 2016 following sustained harassment from Kiwi Farms users.[6][7][9] Following Terryberry's death, Joshua Moon posted a note on the forum claiming that Kiwi Farms and its users had no responsibility for suicide.[2]

In a Twitter thread posted on June 27, 2021, Near, a pseudonymous Japan-based software developer known for their work on the video game emulator higan, described long-term harassment from Kiwi Farms users. Near, who was non-binary, said that they had endured lifelong bullying but that the abuse had recently centralized around Kiwi Farms which had "made the harassment orders of magnitude worse".[4][8][31] Near stated that they and their friends had been doxed and goaded into suicide by members of the website, and that Near had been mocked for being autistic.[4][8][31] On June 28, Hector Martin posted a link to a Google Doc which he said came from a mutual friend of his and Near's, which said that Near had died by suicide, and alleged that the harassment from Kiwi Farms amounted to murder.[8][31][32] Martin subsequently reported on June 28 that he had spoken to police who confirmed that Near had died the previous day.[8][32] USA Today reported on July 23, 2021, that it had confirmed with Near's former employer that they had died.[4]

Other controversies

Christchurch mosque shootings

In March 2019, Kiwi Farms republished both the livestream and the manifesto of Brenton Tarrant, the perpetrator of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings. Shortly after, website owner Joshua Moon publicly denied a request by New Zealand Police to voluntarily hand over all data on posts relating to the shooting, including the email and IP addresses of posters.[11] Moon responded aggressively and mockingly, calling New Zealand a "shithole country",[13][11] and stated that he did not "give a single solitary fuck what section 50 of your faggot law says about sharing your email".[33][34] He deemed the request a censorship attempt and argued that New Zealand authorities "do not have the legal reach to imprison everyone who's posted [the video]".[13] Kiwi Farms was one of several websites blocked by New Zealand Internet service providers after the attack.[14] In New Zealand, those who were caught possessing or sharing images or videos of the attack faced charges that could result in 14-year prison sentences.[35][36]

My Immortal fan fiction authorship

Main article: My Immortal (fan fiction) § 2017: Rose Christo co-authorship claim

In 2017, Tumblr user and young adult fiction writer Rose Christo claimed that she had authored the Harry Potter fan fiction My Immortal, which, Christo said, she had written in order to find her missing brother. She announced that Macmillan Publishers was publishing a memoir, Under the Same Stars: The Search for My Brother and the True Story of My Immortal, about the fan fiction's creation as well as her childhood of abuse and experiences as a Native American in the New York foster care system. A forum thread concerning Christo and discussing her claims was created on Kiwi Farms. Christo's brother, a Kiwi Farms user, responded to the thread to say that Christo's story was nearly entirely false. Claims that he took issue with included that of their Native American ancestry, their having gone to foster care, and her quest to locate him, which formed the center of the memoir.[37][38] Christo then admitted that she had falsified documents supporting her story, but maintained that she had written My Immortal.[39] Macmillan Publishers canceled the publication of her memoir.[40][41]

References

  1. ^ "Kiwi Farms says it will shut down if Section 230 is repealed". The Daily Dot. December 7, 2020. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Pless, Margaret (July 19, 2016). "Kiwi Farms, the Web's Biggest Community of Stalkers". Intelligencer. New York Magazine. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d Rosenberg, Scott (August 25, 2022). "Campaign pushes Cloudflare to drop trans hate site". Axios. Archived from the original on August 25, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Dastagir, Alia E. (July 23, 2021). "'The internet is not a game. ... This stuff really hurts.' Respected developer who was bullied online dies by suicide". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  5. ^ Baj, Lavender (July 13, 2021). "Kiwi Farms Has 14 Days To Find A New Domain Host After Being Booted Off DreamHost". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Wodinsky, Shashona (June 29, 2021). "The Worst Site on the Web Gets DDoS'd After Being Connected to Prominent Developer's Suicide". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Wesolowski, Sébastien (May 27, 2020). "Vaches à lol: dans l'Internet qui harcèle pour s'amuser" [Lolcows: Inside the Internet which harasses for fun]. Vice (in French). Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d e Kotaku Staff (June 28, 2021). "The Brilliant SNES Emulator Author Known As Near Has Died". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c Colombo, Charlotte (August 3, 2021). "Kiwi Farms, the forum that has been linked to 3 suicides, was made to troll Chris Chan years before she was arrested on an incest charge". Insider. Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  10. ^ a b [5][6][7][8][9]
  11. ^ a b c d Bayer, Kurt (April 10, 2019). "Owner of notorious 8chan internet site in bid to deflect blame for role in Christchurch mosque terror attacks". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on May 4, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  12. ^ a b c Veale, Kevin (2020). "Gaming the Rules". Gaming the Dynamics of Online Harassment. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 87–106. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-60410-3_4. ISBN 978-3-030-60410-3. S2CID 229257581.
  13. ^ a b c "Kiwi Farms website refuses to help police in Christchurch terror case". Newshub. March 18, 2019. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  14. ^ a b Rowe, Dan (March 19, 2019). "The online cesspits where hate found a home". The Spinoff. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  15. ^ Gault, Matthew (July 13, 2021). "Notorious Website Kiwi Farms Loses Its Domain Registrar". Vice. Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  16. ^ Goforth, Claire (August 22, 2022). "Pressure grows on Cloudflare to drop Kiwi Farms after latest doxing campaign". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on August 22, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  17. ^ Cole, Samantha (August 23, 2022). "People Are Demanding That Cloudflare Drop Kiwi Farms". Motherboard. Vice. Archived from the original on August 23, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  18. ^ Menn, Joseph; Lorenz, Taylor (September 3, 2022). "Under pressure, security firm Cloudflare drops KiwiFarms website where stalkers organize". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on September 4, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Feldman, Kate (September 4, 2022). "Cloudflare blocks internet forum Kiwi Farms over harassment of trans people – 'An unprecedented emergency and immediate threat to human life'". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  20. ^ a b Collins, Ben (September 3, 2022). "Internet services company Cloudflare blocks Kiwi Farms citing targeted threats". NBC News. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  21. ^ a b Alspach, Kyle (September 3, 2022). "Cloudflare has blocked Kiwi Farms due to 'escalated' threats". Protocol. Capitol News Company. Archived from the original on September 4, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  22. ^ a b Carruthers, Dale (August 18, 2022). "Police sent to Toronto home of man with same last name as London trans activist". The London Free Press. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  23. ^ a b c Bardhan, Ashley (August 19, 2022). "Trans Twitch Streamer Keffals Now 'In Hiding' After Second Dox Attack". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on August 23, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  24. ^ Khan, Ahmar (August 17, 2022). "Twitch streamer and trans woman, Clara Sorrenti allegedly doxxed again". Global News. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  25. ^ Simon, Amy; Khan, Ahmar (August 23, 2022). "Doxxed Twitch streamer and transgender activist leaving Canada amid ongoing harassment". Global News. Archived from the original on August 24, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  26. ^ Cohen, Rebecca (August 19, 2022). "Popular gaming streamer Keffals said she had to go into hiding over a months-long campaign of doxxing threats: 'I never plan to back down'". Insider. Insider Inc. Archived from the original on August 22, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  27. ^ Zandbergen, Rebecca; McInnes, Angela (August 23, 2022). "Twitch streamer and trans activist says she's leaving Canada for awhile due to harassment". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on August 23, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  28. ^ Katzowitz, Josh (June 25, 2018). "Transgender game developer who'd been bullied online dies by suicide". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  29. ^ Fogel, Stefanie (June 26, 2018). "Video Game Developer Dies After Setting Herself on Fire". Variety. Archived from the original on June 8, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  30. ^ Morgan, Joe (June 29, 2018). "Bullied trans game developer dies after setting herself on fire". Gay Star News. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  31. ^ a b c Klepek, Patrick (June 29, 2021). "What I Learned From Near, an Emulation Legend and Real Person". Vice News. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  32. ^ a b Macgregor, Jody (June 28, 2021). "Near, creator of the higan and bsnes emulators, has died". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on June 30, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  33. ^ O'Neill, Marnie (March 19, 2019). "Website Kiwi Farms refuses to surrender data linked to accused Christchurch terrorist Brendan Tarrant". news.com.au. Archived from the original on March 18, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  34. ^ "Christchurch mosque shootings: Website Kiwi Farms refuses to surrender data linked to accused". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on March 18, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  35. ^ Onyanga-Omara, Jane. "New Zealand mosque shootings: Six in court on charges they sent attack images". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  36. ^ "Six Charged in New Zealand for Sharing Mosque Shooting Video Online". Rolling Stone. April 15, 2019. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  37. ^ Tremeer, Eleanor (October 5, 2017). "The Author Of 'My Immortal' Is A Fake And I Don't Know What To Believe Anymore". Movie Pilot. Archived from the original on October 5, 2017.
  38. ^ "The 'My Immortal' mystery grows: Five new questions after the memoir's cancellation". Hypable. October 5, 2017. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  39. ^ Lee, Jarry (October 3, 2017). "The "My Immortal" Book Is No Longer Going To Be Published". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on October 5, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  40. ^ Romano, Aja (October 9, 2017). "The My Immortal memoir has been canceled, and the mystery of the notorious fanfic deepens". Vox. Archived from the original on August 27, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  41. ^ Lai, Catherine (October 5, 2017). "Memoir of "My Immortal" Author Canceled amid Accusations of Falsehoods". MuggleNet. Archived from the original on August 27, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kiwi_Farms&oldid=1108501926"