Gamergate or GamerGate (GG) was a loosely organized misogynistic online harassment campaign and a right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. It was conducted using the hashtag "#Gamergate" primarily in 2014 and 2015. Gamergate targeted women in the video game industry, most notably feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian and video game developers Zoë Quinn and Brianna Wu. Gamergate began with an August 2014 blog entry called "The Zoe Post" by Quinn's ex-boyfriend, which falsely insinuated that Quinn had received a favorable review because of their sexual relationship with a games journalist. The blog post was spread to 4chan, where many users had previously disparaged Quinn's work. This led to a coordinated harassment campaign against Quinn, organized primarily through anonymous message boards such as 4chan, 8chan, and Reddit. The harassment campaign expanded to target Sarkeesian, Wu, and others who defended Quinn, and included doxing, rape threats, and death threats. Gamergate proponents ("Gamergaters") claimed to be promoting ethics in video game journalism and protecting the "gamer" identity in opposition to "political correctness" and the perceived influence of feminism and so-called "social justice warriors" on video game culture. Proponents alleged there was a conspiracy between journalists and video game developers to focus on progressive social issues such as gender equality and sexism. Such claims have been widely dismissed as trivial, baseless, or unrelated to actual issues of ethics in gaming and journalism. Several commentators in the mass media dismissed the ethics complaints as a deliberate cover for the ongoing harassment of Quinn and other women. Gamergaters frequently denied any such harassment took place, falsely claiming it to be manufactured by the victims. Gamergate has been described as a culture war over cultural diversification, artistic recognition, feminism in video games, social criticism in video games, and the social identity of gamers. Supporters stated that it was a social movement. However, as a movement Gamergate had no clearly defined goals, coherent message, or official leaders, making it difficult to define. Gamergate led figures both inside and outside the gaming industry to focus on methods of addressing online harassment, ways to minimize harm, and prevent similar events. Gamergate has been viewed as contributing to the alt-right and other right-wing movements.