Related Articles
Adobe
Adobe has made a post on its website clarifying its position in the Gamergate debate after ambiguous actions last week.
The company had requested gossip website Gawker remove the Adobe logo, which indicated that the company was a Gawker advertiser, from its website. As Adobe explained in a Tweet at the time, it was not a Gawker advertiser — however, the Tweet also added that “Adobe stands against bullying”.
This last was in response to pressure from Gamergaters after a series of Tweets from Gawker writer and former Valleywag editor Sam Biddle in which he said that “nerds should be constantly shamed and degraded into submission” and “Bring Back Bullying”. (Biddle later clarified that his Tweets had been in jest.)
“Unfortunately, [Adobe’s] tweet was perceived to support Gamergaters and created a firestorm on Twitter,” Adobe wrote in a blog post.
Although the company attempted to clarify in a later Tweet, saying “We are vehemently opposed to bullying of any kind and would never support any group that bullies”.
Today, Adobe has finally firmly stated where it stands.
“We are not and have never been aligned with Gamergate,” Adobe wrote. “We reject all forms of bullying, including the harassment of women by individuals associated with Gamergate. Every human being deserves respect, regardless of gender, orientation, appearance, personal hobbies or anything else that makes individuals who they are.”
The company was referring to the sustained harassment of women in the industry such as Zoe Quinn, Brianna Wu, Felicia Day and Anita Sarkeesian, all of whom were doxxed.
Earlier this month, Intel also issued an apology after pulling its advertising from Gamasutra in the wake of Gamergate pressure over an article by editor-at-large Leigh Alexander.
“We recognize that our action inadvertently created a perception that we are somehow taking sides in an increasingly bitter debate in the gaming community. That was not our intent, and that is not the case. When it comes to our support of equality and women, we want to be very clear: Intel believes men and women should be treated the same,” Intel wrote. However, the company did not clarify why it had pulled from the site, and did not restore its ads.
Adobe noted that it has in the past and continues to take a stand and campaign against bullying.
“We have taken a strong stance against bullying through our support of the Ad Council’s anti-bullying campaign and, most recently, our own Bully Project Mural. We will continue to speak out against bullying and encourage everyone who feels strongly about this issue to stand up for what is right,” Adobe said.
