The Crash Override Network Trello leaks took place over the weekend as promised. The leaks have made their way around the net and are being picked apart by discerning minds. One part of the leak that takes place between January 6th, 2015 and February 5th, 2015 reveals that Crash Override Network was not above using doxing to identify and target those they did not like.
The leakers removed the personal identification information from the Trello leaks, but in Crash Override Network’s attempt to supposedly curb harassment and doxing, the self-proclaimed anti-abuse network partook in the same tactics. The leaks are currently available in full over on 8chan [backup].
In one section of the Trello leaks, on January 12th, 2015, Dan Olson from Channel Awesome’s Folding Ideas targets the owner of the 8chan board /Baphomet/, which is known itself for doxing.
It’s interesting because previously those who identify as anti-#GamerGate, such as outspoken internet user Zennistrad, had defended Dan Olson regarding a separate spat that Olson had with the amorphous hashtag, but there’s little to defend here.
For context, Olson outs the personal information of the owner of an imageboard on 8chan called Baphomet, including the identity of the board owner’s mother, father and the school he went to. According to Olson, the particular imageboard he references on 8chan was “cancer”, writing…
“I just think this motherfucker can’t run a board like this. Targets are shit and nothing serious. He will bring the same cancer that killed halfchan. Raids are supposed to bring lulz, but that shitty board brings cancer. Something is not going how it should. Anyway here we go: [dox information]
“Dude is a fucker who does nothing in life other than drawing shitty mangas. He went to school at the [redacted]”
So what was the purpose of the dox on someone running a board on the imageboard? Well, the Trello cards don’t reveal specifically what they did with the Baphomet owner’s dox but they did use some other information to help shutdown the funding avenues for Frederick Brennan, the former administrator of 8chan. They had an entire section dedicated to finding ways to gain access to information about Brennan’s financial income in order to have it shutdown.
The Trello leaks also reveal a number of other targets that Crash Override Network had in their sights, including Ethan Ralph from the Ralph Retort and Mike Cernovich from Danger and Play, as well as the dangerous playboy of free-thought and the chief provocateur of the Conservative Right, Milo Yiannopoulos.
The previous Crash Override Network leaks from the Skype chat were confirmed by Ian Miles Cheong and Randi Lee Harper, two members who were part of the Crash Override Network. The former leaks revealed that co-founder of the organization, Zoe Quinn, admitted to sabotaging the Polaris Game Jam, a reality TV production that cost Maker Studios and Disney $400,000. The leaks also revealed that the group participated in doxing members of a #GamerGate Facebook group and harassing people who became targets of the organization.
The revelation of the Crash Override Network leaks resulted in the official Wikipedia being begrudgingly updated to include some of the more nefarious behavior of the group. Despite the revelations, Twitter still lists Crash Override Network as a Trusted Partner for dealing with harassment and offensive speech.
The Crash Override Network leaks have been sent to various outlets such as Polygon, Eurogamer and Kotaku, along with other media sites who have given the organization positive coverage in the past, but the outlets have chosen not to report on the leaks.
(Main image courtesy of Patrick Lindsey)
