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Hi. I’m a female + Māori gaming creator. You may have noticed I’m being severely harassed for calling out a racist joke.
Proof in replies.
Retweet this thread with the hashtag #PWRDOWN and tag OCE creators and pros, big and small, if you want to stand up to this hatred.
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Proof in replies.
Retweet this thread with the hashtag #PWRDOWN and tag OCE creators and pros, big and small, if you want to stand up to this hatred.
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On Saturday night, @radiusfn shared this image and asked people who found it offensive to unfollow him.
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He quickly deleted it after people started to complain, but I shared this and called him out.
His initial response was just to joke. Not to apologise.
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His initial response was just to joke. Not to apologise.
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His teammate @RepulseGod4 supported the initial racist joke and decided to call me a hoe for speaking out against it.
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Emboldened by the actions of @radiusfn and @RepulseGod4, fellow comp players and their fans started to tweet racist and sexist abuse at me + tell me to kill myself. Simply for calling out a racist joke by one of their faves.
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I refused to shut up and ‘ignore’ the vile harassment I was facing. Instead, I called on @TeamPWRgg and its creator @LachlanYT to speak out against the hatred their community was showing me. But they stayed silent as it escalated to hundreds of death threats.
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It took me tweeting about this for an entire day + tagging some of @LachlanYT’s sponsors like @HyperX and @OnePlus_USA in order for @TeamPWRgg to make a statement.
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This is complete bullshit. @TeamPWRgg tried to distance themselves from the Twitter account of their signed player - @radiusfn - despite the PWR in his name and PWR merch he’s wearing in his profile picture. Their first tweet is brand-friendly language for “not our problem”.
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Their 2nd tweet is a refusal to address this publicly or prove @radiusfn and @RepulseGod4 are actually being held accountable for their actions.
Finally, they said they won’t ‘publicly engage’ any further on this matter. The matter being racist and sexist abuse by OCE pros.
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Finally, they said they won’t ‘publicly engage’ any further on this matter. The matter being racist and sexist abuse by OCE pros.
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At no point did @TeamPWRgg or @LachlanYT answer any of my public and private messages. All I asked was for @radiusfn to publicly apologise for his racist joke and for @TeamPWRgg to set an example by asking their fans to stop sending me insults and death threats.
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But some brave OCE content creators and industry figures started seeing the disgusting abuse being hurled my way and they decided to speak up against it too. So shout out to people like @BenGreenAU and @PhidMcAwesome who amplified my voice!
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Finally @radiusfn was forced to issue an apology for his original tweet. I can’t see it as he’s blocked me for calling out his toxic attitude and behaviour. But it wouldn’t exist at all if I hadn’t continued to speak up despite the hate I’ve been facing for two days now.
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This started out as being about one racist joke, but what I’ve really exposed is how orgs like @TeamPWRgg and creators like @LachlanYT can afford to stay silent and let people like me - women/POC/smaller creators - suffer inhumane abuse if we call out their harmful actions.
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So I’m going to continue trying to #PWRDOWN this disgusting hatred by asking the wider OCE gaming industry to hold their friends and peers accountable when they mess up like this and set a good example for their audiences. Don’t be like @TeamPWRgg and @LachlanYT. Be better.
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Creators like @muselk @Lazarbeam @Loserfruit @crayator @BazzaGazza hold massive sway over this community and could use their voices to actually make a change. Their wall of silence is just as harmful as the death threats in my mentions - if not more so.
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And industry leaders like @Click_Mgmt @gracewatkins say they want to bring more diverse gamers into the industry but refuse to address the fact that their own creators and friends are responsible for some of the racist and sexist abuse that we minority gamers have to face.
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This all has to change. I know there are so many other creators out there that want to help but are too scared to speak up. Retweeting this thread and using #PWRDOWN when you see hate directed towards myself or others would be a good start.
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That’s all for now. I’m going to keep fighting this unacceptable hatred. And I’ll keep pushing @TeamPWRgg and @LachlanYT to address the situation in an appropriate way. I’ll update this thread with future developments.
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