A prominent female game developer who was bombarded with online threats after speaking out about harassment against women during the GamerGate controversy is planning to run for Congress.
Buzz about a potential bid by Brianna Wu picked up this week, when the Massachusetts-based cofounder of the game firm Giant Spacekat posted a picture of the U.S. Capitol with the text "She fought the Alt-Right and Won. Now she’s fighting for all of us" to her Facebook page.
Wu, who has been tweeting about her plans, confirmed to VentureBeat that she's gearing up for a 2018 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives. Wu hasn't announced which district she plans to run for, though, because she doesn't want to tip off potential opponents, according to CNN.
"The reason I decided to run is simple: [President-elect Donald] Trump is terrifyingly now in the White House," she said. "I can’t sit by making pleasant video game distractions for the next four years while the Constitution is under assault. Hillary [Clinton] ran a brave marathon, and now it’s time for women of my generation to pick up that baton and commit to public service."
Wu was one of a number of women in the industry whose experience being targeted by hateful comments and death threats from supporters of the #GamerGate movement have made headlines in recent years.
She cited some of that vitriol she's faced in explaining her decision to run.
"I’ve been called a lot of names over my career, but I’ve never been told I’m scared of a fight. You know just how passionate I am about women in tech. But I believe we’ve hit an asymptote with what activism in tech can accomplish. People are aware of the problem, but all that’s getting done is window dressing," she told VentureBeat. "We don’t need more catered women-in-tech lunches, we don’t need speeches — we need structural bias against us to stop. And I think women in tech serving in the legislative branch is the next step forward."