Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: Evilore, NeoGAF, NeoGAF shutdown, Tyler Malka

Founder Of NeoGAF Has Responsed To Sexual Assault Allegations

In the last few weeks, popular online gaming forum NeoGAF has imploded following allegations that its founder, Tyler Malka had sexually assaulted a former acquaintance. The site originally brought up an error message when you attempted to visit any of its pages, noting that it was down for maintenance. Now, however, both NeoGAF and Malka have emerged, with the site back online and its owner issuing a statement in response to the allegations.

Early Monday morning, Malka published a statement entitled "The state of NeoGAF" on one of the site's forums. In the statement, Malka denied claims of sexual misconduct. "An allegation of sexual misconduct has been made against me by an ex," wrote Malka. "It's not true, the individual making the accusation isn't credible, the story doesn't reconcile logically with the facts, and there's plenty of evidence and witnesses to corroborate that." Considering the alleged assault took place in a hotel shower, in which only Malka and the accuser were present, that seems like a stretch. It's also a clear attempt to discredit the woman's story without giving any proof of Malka's innocence.

Malka went on to comment that allegations of this nature are serious, and that the "unprecedented events unfold[ing] on NeoGAF" when the community caught wind of the burgeoning controversy left him "beyond exhausted" and "stretched too thin." Which, given his prior efforts to control the story seems a bit overwrought. Going after users who commented on the allegations with extreme prejudice would exhaust anyone.

"Before I could finish a statement and get it out there, understandably some mods hit their emotional limit, expressed concerns about the community coming after them, and decided to leave. A few people resigned, and many more quickly followed for similar reasons, citing stress and harassment," Malka stated. "The site started breaking under load spikes leading up to the first resignations, too, and then fla-tlined altogether, so issuing a statement at that time on NeoGAF itself became impossible for the time being."

The statement closed with Malka indicating that NeoGAF visitors and users must respect the mod team, as that is "non-negotiable." However, he did note that others have "no obligations" to respect him or "believe anything [he] say[s] about [his] personal life one way or another." Malka, like many others, seems to have made the mistake of conflating respect with obedience. His statement and actions imply that NeoGAF users must refrain from commenting on the allegations (in any way) as a form of "respect" to Malka. Which is less respect, and more of a gag order.

A follow-up message from NeoGAF's moderation team explained that the forum's Off-Topic boards would be shuttered for some time to refocus the site's discussion to video games and steer clear of political topics and the like. A massive amount of moderators have left the NeoGAF community since the allegations first surfaced, and their resignations are viewed as a protest against Malka and the actions he is alleged to have committed.

Responses to Malka's statement and the subsequent decisions moving forward have been quite heated, often following in the same vein as the so-called "suicide posts" users wrote over the weekend with the hopes of being banned from the site altogether. Because, for some, there's just something irresistible about being banned by the site instead of voluntarily leaving. Some users have accused Malka of cowardice for shutting down the Off Topic part of the forum, while others have called his actions unacceptable. Malka's actions have essentially destroyed the spirit of NeoGAF by silencing open discussion- not just about the allegations but about politics as well.

Despite all this, it seems as though Malka won't be stepping down from the site any time soon. Nor does he appear to be stepping back to let the situation blow over.

As NeoGAF is very obviously on the rocks – the site went down shortly after Malka's statement – supporters are working to distance themselves from the site and Malka himself as quickly as possible.

Regardless of your stance on the allegations themselves, it has become unmistakably certain that Malka's reaction has done as much to affect NeoGAF's future as the allegations themselves.

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