DeepFreeze.it is a website that chronicles and catalogs the corruption of video game journalists. It highlights moments of unethical behavior, incivility and fabrication. The database was recently updated by the owner of the site, Bonegolem, as he included a number of entries involving instances of corruption by Kris Ligman from Gamasutra and Critical Distance, along with a censorship entry from Yanier “Niero” Gonzalez from Destructoid.
Bonegolem [Disclosure: I’ve occasionally helped provide information for the DeepFreeze repository] posted a tweet on the official DeepFreeze account, letting those who care about ethics journalism know that the gavel of ethics has dropped, and a verdict was handed down to various video game journalists.
Late, but large DeepFreeze.it update.
13 new entries, mostly about Critical Distance.#GamerGate pic.twitter.com/VyRuQRe2TD— DeepFreeze (@icejournalism) June 8, 2016
The entries for Kris Ligman center around the conflicts of interest between Ligman and Silverstring Media. There are seven counts of corruption. You can see the newly added entries by clicking through Kris Ligman’s name on the site.
The corruption charges involved mentioning or promoting Silverstring Media content or individuals while they had financial ties to Ligman. This was all done without disclosure, a federal requirement from media outlets, personalities and news organizations, according to the revised FTC guidelines.
Mike Diver from Vice was also charged with a count of sensationalism, getting him a nice cozy spot on the board for his hit-piece on Markus “Notch” Persson, the creator of Minecraft, along with two entries for Destructoid.
The entries for Destructoid span both sensationalism and censorship. Steve Hansen manages to get an entry on the board for his article about Markus “Notch” Persson’s comments on Twitter that criticized the term “Mansplaining”. Hansen proclaimed that he was making a record of publicly held opinions in order to essentially publish a hit-piece on Notch.
The second entry for Destructoid is one for Yanier “Niero” Gonzalez, with a citing for censorship. The entry here is actually in regards to the case involving Holly Green, which resulted in all of her work being scrubbed from Destructoid following a heavy fallout with the staff, which was detailed in a multi-part exposé on Destructoid.
You can check out all of the updates over on the official DeepFreeze.it website.
(Main image courtesy of an Anon)
