The Rantic Marketing Emma Watson photo leak hoax, is a hoax itself.

Princessbabe

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So a few stories have popped up online regarding the Emma Watson nude photo leak threat being a hoax to pull on Obama's apron strings to get him to shut down 4chan and censor the internet. You couldn't make this shit up, I thought. Until I looked a little closer and it seems some-one did.

I've been avoiding these threads on the Escapist (think again if I'm going back in to those hundred plus page GamerGate threads) but I thought I'd pop in and see if this particular shit had stuck to any of them. Sure enough, it has:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.861411-Poll-Emma-Watsons-Speech-on-Gender-Equality?page=3
Bat Vader said:
Gestapo Hunter said:
Bat Vader said:
one squirrel said:
Bat Vader said:
I don't know if it has been posted or not but it would seem Emma Watson is now being threatened that indecent pictures of her will be distributed over the internet. If it does happen I hope the person/people responsible are caught and severely punished. Just because someone dislikes what she says doesn't give that person a right to invade her privacy.

https://celebrity.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-news/emma-watson-faces-disturbing-backlash-over-u-n--speech-181254105.html
With which part of the speech are people taking issue with, it seems pretty moderate to me?
No idea. Just found and read the article on Yahoo.
Hey guess what?!?! [img/]http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/203/574/ItsaFake.jpg[/img]

turns out it was all a ploy by marketing agency to frame 4chan now theyre petitioning Obama to censor the internet.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/09/24/emma-watson-nude-photos-hoax-rantic_n_5871730.html
That's good. Happy to see that it is fake and someone isn't going to have their private life invaded. Doubt the internet will be censored.
It actually gets much weirder. The hoax itself is a hoax. Mashable, Huffpo, and even Australia's ABC have all published the story, but it doesn't hold up to even the most cursory examination.

Here is a screen grab from the supposed PR firm, Rantic.

"Clear indication that the internet NEEDS to be censored" Scan that hyperbole. And look at the grammar, "in past 2 months" and "and will be step closer".

It gets worse on Rantic's Twitter account: https://twitter.com/RanticMarketing

"Dear humans, In the digital age we have a new kind of terror going on and it is called 4chan,Help us take down the terrorist group 4chan." More extreme hyperbole here. Maybe you think "SJW's" just fall under Poe's Law, but look at this one:
"4chan is messing with the wrong one, ladies have been suffering, Kids are being exposed to the utterly disturbing content, 4chan IS KILL."

That is straight up chan dialect right there, and most of the twitter feed is pure nonsense:
"How to get your top secret clearance within the US Gov"
"How deep does The rabbit hole go?"
"Working with NASA we learned one thing , Don't send monkeys to fix your stuff."

After seeing this I mentioned it to a friend. Initially I was annoyed by the hoax. I figured all it would do would stoke the perceived victimhood of some of the pro-GamerGate crowd, and give them ammunition for their broad claims that Sarkeesian/Quinn/Gawker etc. were making hyperbolic or outright false claims of harassment. After a chat with my friend and an incredibly cursory poke around google to look for Rantic Marketing's online presence (a viral marketing firm should have a fairly significant one, right?), he remembered where he recognized the name from.

http://www.craveonline.com.au/gaming/articles/751071-grand-theft-auto-v-pc-cancellation-rumor-debunked

It seems Rantic purported to represent Rockstar in a GTAV hoax that was pure PC master race trolling. 4chan apparently hacked Rantic's website, but neither Rantic Marketing nor their supposed chairman John Hoffberger seem to exist.

My take on all this is that Rantic's website and twitter are just some 4channers' trolling apparatus. Given that m00t purged almost all of his pro-GG mods and the whole thing is attracting deletions and bans there, with pro-GG anons and mods apparently moving to 8chan/Masterchan, I'm pretty sure that this whole thing is basically the 4chan offshoots trolling 4chan with a SJW satire. "In the digital age we have a new kind of terror going on and it is called 4chan,Help us take down the terrorist group 4chan" Reads exactly like a satire of the guy who said he had more respect for ISIS than GamerGate.

Now look at Rantic's first tweet, "Some say viral cannot be predicted well we have the recipe." They took one part prominent feminism (Emma Watson talking about feminism at the UN), one part nude celebrity photo leak and stirred. This was less than an hour of poking around and about three google searches from some-one who doesn't frequent 4chan or Reddit (this exact kind of appetite for dumb lulz and drama is the reason). I am feeling pretty embarrassed for the ABC right now.

Make your own interpretation, but I thought I'd better put this out there before either side grab onto the articles and start using them as ammunition against eachother.
 

The_Darkness

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I'm sorry, but I think you lost me at the second level of "It's a hoax."

So... the threat itself was a hoax. (Fine, someone wanted to make 4chan look bad. Considering they have done similar stuff in the past... *shrugs*)

However... the fact that it was a hoax... is a hoax? How does that even work? Person A wanted to make Person B look like Person B wanted to make 4chan look bad? Who's person A?! Who's person B either?
 

Thaluikhain

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The_Darkness said:
I'm sorry, but I think you lost me at the second level of "It's a hoax."

So... the threat itself was a hoax. (Fine, someone wanted to make 4chan look bad. Considering they have done similar stuff in the past... *shrugs*)

However... the fact that it was a hoax... is a hoax? How does that even work? Person A wanted to make Person B look like Person B wanted to make 4chan look bad? Who's person A?! Who's person B either?
False flag.

You make it look like you are being attacked. In this case, by making it look like someone is trying to do the same to you. You get to look all offended and claim someone is trying to smear you, to get people on your side.

Very John le Carre, except really, really not.

(Upshot of this, looks like nobody is actually going to try and murder Emma Watson just yet)
 

The_Darkness

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thaluikhain said:
The_Darkness said:
I'm sorry, but I think you lost me at the second level of "It's a hoax."

So... the threat itself was a hoax. (Fine, someone wanted to make 4chan look bad. Considering they have done similar stuff in the past... *shrugs*)

However... the fact that it was a hoax... is a hoax? How does that even work? Person A wanted to make Person B look like Person B wanted to make 4chan look bad? Who's person A?! Who's person B either?
False flag.

You make it look like you are being attacked. In this case, by making it look like someone is trying to do the same to you. You get to look all offended and claim someone is trying to smear you, to get people on your side.

Very John le Carre, except really, really not.

(Upshot of this, looks like nobody is actually going to try and murder Emma Watson just yet)
So... someone over at 4chan (I'm not going to accuse the entire website) decided it would be a good idea to make the threat, then make it look like the threat had been faked, so that people would view 4chan as the victims...

That's... obtuse. Especially considering that plenty more people believe the threat was 'real', than are aware of the hoax story.

(But yes, that upshot is good.)

Though honestly, I don't really care who made the threat or why. It was wrong, regardless of intentions.
 

Thaluikhain

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The_Darkness said:
[So... someone over at 4chan (I'm not going to accuse the entire website) decided it would be a good idea to make the threat, then make it look like the threat had been faked, so that people would view 4chan as the victims...

That's... obtuse. Especially considering that plenty more people believe the threat was 'real', than are aware of the hoax story.
Yeah, more or less. The hoax story is spreading rapidly, though...and it's not like 4chan is made up exclusively of criminal masterminds anyway.

The_Darkness said:
Though honestly, I don't really care who made the threat or why. It was wrong, regardless of intentions.
Very true. Though, using it to pretend that you are the victims (this time) seem particularly vile.
 

Jenvas1306

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but dont forget that 4chan isnt a hivemind and we cant possible lame the whole site for the actions of a few.
I think its more like a country where the crazy people arent locked up and sometimes come over and smear your walls with shit, but in exchange everyone can be as crazy as they want. true freedom, which is great if you dont mind the shit on the walls.
I for my part dont mind some rules, mostly because I never feel the need to smear anything with feces.
 

Lieju

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The_Darkness said:
So... someone over at 4chan (I'm not going to accuse the entire website) decided it would be a good idea to make the threat, then make it look like the threat had been faked, so that people would view 4chan as the victims...

That's... obtuse. Especially considering that plenty more people believe the threat was 'real', than are aware of the hoax story.

(But yes, that upshot is good.)

Though honestly, I don't really care who made the threat or why. It was wrong, regardless of intentions.
Isn't it pretty likely there are several people doing things more or less independently?
Or going step-by-step making it up as they go along?
 

Something Amyss

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Jenvas1306 said:
I think its more like a country where the crazy people arent locked up and sometimes come over and smear your walls with shit, but in exchange everyone can be as crazy as they want.
Bad analogy. People blame countries for the actions of a few. People blame cultures for the actions of a few. People blame movements for the actions of a few.

People only generally take issue with this when it's their sphere. Suddenly it's off limits.
 
Sep 15, 2014
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Princessbabe said:
thaluikhain said:
If we're going to play the baseless speculations game, I'll raise you one. The hoax of the hoax was a hoax. It's a false false flag. The tryhard chanspeak was deliberately inserted to make everyone think 4chan was false-flagging itself.

Of course, in reality, you have no idea why the crew from SocialVEVO did what they did or if they're taking orders from anybody. 8chan knows, though. It's a known fact that SocialVEVO is not affiliated with 4chan, and in fact have come into conflict with them in the past.

http://www.businessinsider.com/emma-watson-naked-photo-countdown-hoax-2014-9

They have a known pattern of behavior. They exploit current events for notoriety and ad dollars with a hoax of some sort, one of which in the past involved framing 4chan for hacking their fictional media company, and then they pack up and leave. 8chan /pol/ is currently on the case.

https://8chan.co/pol/res/47834.html
 

Queen Michael

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This feels like one of those time-travel stories where you need to keep track of a ton of timelines all at once.
 

Princessbabe

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implyingimplications said:
Princessbabe said:
thaluikhain said:
If we're going to play the baseless speculations game, I'll raise you one. The hoax of the hoax was a hoax. It's a false false flag. The tryhard chanspeak was deliberately inserted to make everyone think 4chan was false-flagging itself.

Of course, in reality, you have no idea why the crew from SocialVEVO did what they did or if they're taking orders from anybody. 8chan knows, though. It's a known fact that SocialVEVO is not affiliated with 4chan, and in fact have come into conflict with them in the past.
Sorry, mate. You can't -snip- my entire post under the label of baseless accusations. My basis of evidence and the opinions ("my take on this" isn't an accusation) I draw from them are clearly delineated. My own bias is transparent, and so is the fact that I'm neither a user of or expert on 4chan. Thaluikhain shouldn't cop that either, he was clarifying what I said to The_Darkness who was about to turn the situation into an algebra equation.

I don't state that 4chan is a unified entity. I specifically mention m00t's mod expulsion in my theory, as well as channers who are just bored of gamergate.

http://www.businessinsider.com/emma-watson-naked-photo-countdown-hoax-2014-9

They have a known pattern of behavior. They exploit current events for notoriety and ad dollars with a hoax of some sort, one of which in the past involved framing 4chan for hacking their fictional media company, and then they pack up and leave. 8chan /pol/ is currently on the case.

https://8chan.co/pol/res/47834.html
Thanks for posting the businessinsider article, it's good to see that someone published something beyond copy-pasting the unverified hoax.

Oh, great. There is some really gross shit in that 8chan thread. One user posting the names, addresses and contact details of a hoax perpetrator and his father (for "jewry" no less) and another suggesting the whole thing is Gawker's doing in the same breath as celebrating that girl's suicide. /pol/ culture is pretty gross. Is it really any wonder everyone was so ready to believe this SocialVEVO hoax? One one hand chan isn't a hive mind as some-one stated, but you can see a pretty definitive culture there and it is the same thing that makes the whole gamergate thing mud.

We've quickly come full circle back to the reason I generally want nothing to do with it. I made an exception because news sites were posting unverified trash.
 
Sep 15, 2014
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Princessbabe said:
Sorry, mate. You can't -snip- my entire post under the label of baseless accusations. My basis of evidence and the opinions ("my take on this" isn't an accusation) I draw from them are clearly delineated. My own bias is transparent, and so is the fact that I'm neither a user of or expert on 4chan. Thaluikhain shouldn't cop that either, he was clarifying what I said to The_Darkness who was about to turn the situation into an algebra equation.

I don't state that 4chan is a unified entity. I specifically mention m00t's mod expulsion in my theory, as well as channers who are just bored of gamergate.
Ehh, I went back and read what you wrote a little more closely and I suppose you're right. You didn't technically state your theory as fact. I apologize. I'm a little on-edge at the moment because certain people on the Escapist seem all-too-eager to find any excuse, no matter how flimsy, to slander 4chan users as a whole. I get it, of course - you don't want us gross channer proles dumbing up your board with our gross ideas. Fine. I don't need everyone's personal adulation to feel at home. Where I come from, nobody knows or cares who I am and I get called a fa***tt on a regular basis. But I won't stand for anyone trying to paint my fellow anons as villains when they haven't done anything wrong. If I'm gonna be called scum, I want to earn it, first.

Taking your theory as an opinion, it's still wrong, as I pointed out. As for /pol/'s little investigation, I find it hard to scrape up any sympathy for the guy who perpetrated these hoaxes. In his "line of work", fair game is fair game.