September 30th, 2023 will be the final day of operation for the Games and Online Harassment Hotline. Until then, our services will continue as usual, answering texts and offering support every day from 3-7pm PT. You can still text SUPPORT to 23368 or message us on Whatsapp at any time to get connected. ReSpec, our… Keep reading “The Games Hotline Sunset”

We hear from many folks on the Games and Online Harassment Hotline who are blackmailed after sending intimate images or videos. We wrote a guide on dealing with blackmail when it happens, but we also want to push back on some of the shame, regret, and victim-blaming that often happens in blackmail situations. There’s nothing… Keep reading “Sending Sexy Pics with Safety in Mind”

Today is the first day of our Spring Campaign in support of the Games and Online Harassment Hotline! What Your Donation Makes Possible: There’s so much more progress we can make together in creating a safer games industry and online gaming spaces. Help us reach our $20,000 goal for this campaign and we promise we… Keep reading “GAME ON! Spring Campaign”

In its second year of operation, the Games Hotline focused on finding more and better ways to share its wisdom and guidance with the community. The resources we created centered on concerning trends and addressing common situations and needs that are relevant to the community, including a comprehensive and detailed guide for mitigating hate raids,… Keep reading “2022 Impact Report”

Blackmail can feel like an impossible, unfair, stressful, and scary situation, but it’s also an old, old trick. Your blackmailer, no matter who they are, wants you to feel terrified and alone and ashamed and rushed, so they can control you. It’s OK to feel all of those things. It’s also OK to breathe, slow… Keep reading “Responding to Blackmail”

Hate raids are yet another symptom of the systemically racist, sexist, queerphobic, oppressive culture we live in. They are a tool used primarily to silence and intimidate streamers, and we have seen how they are unfairly and disproportionately targeted at Black women, queer, and BIPOC streamers. We created a comprehensive guide to thinking through various… Keep reading “How do I stay safe from a hate raid?”

Sometimes people who have caused harassment or have been accused of abuse in communities will text into the Games Hotline for emotional support.  Why would we talk to people who may have harassed, abused, or harmed others? Aren’t we anti-harassment? Well, what we know is that harassment happens in an ecosystem, and we’re committed to… Keep reading “Does the Games Hotline Talk to Harassers Too? How We Have Accountable Conversations”

What really happens when you text into an emotional support hotline? Do we have a secret key to supportive conversations? What if you want to offer emotional support to someone in your own life? Could you do what we do? Honestly, there’s nothing exclusive to how we hold conversations with people reaching out to the… Keep reading “What we do & how you could do it in your own life”