Bungie employees were doxxed and received death threats following a Destiny 2 collaboration with a streamer.
A tweet from a Bungie employee in June listed a collaboration with African-American streamer Uhmaayyze, who the employee described as a hero.
The tweet received death threats in response, which was followed by several Bungie employees receiving calls, texts, and voicemails from anonymous callers on their personal phones filled with racial slurs, reports The Record.
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The callers were using an anonymous service called TextNow. Bungie convinced an Ontorio judge to order the company to name its customers.
One particular voicemail requested Bungie include violent, racially-charged scenes in Destiny 2. The employee’s spouse (who also works at Bungie) received the same message via text.
“A few minutes later he called back and identified himself as a member of a far-right-wing social network known to publish material that is censored from mainstream social media. He repeated the request for an ‘N-word killing’ DLC to be added to Destiny 2,” said Superior Court Justice Fred Myers in his ruling.
Later they received a pizza delivery and a voicemail from the same number reading “enjoy your pizza”.
“Not surprisingly, the use of the employees’ home address frightened them. They called the local police and made a report,” said Myers.
The news follows a recent lawsuit against the user inkcel who harassed Bungie employees online and repeatedly used cheating software.
Tweets from this user were also included in Myers’ ruling.
“Our mission is to provide everyone with an affordable way to communicate, and we place a high value on the safety and privacy of our users,” said a spokesperson from TextNow. “From time to time, we receive lawful requests for information. We comply with all valid requests as required by law.”
Neil Paris, a lawyer representing one of the Bungie employees affected, said: “Whether they sue in the US or just give the name to the police, I am satisfied that the exceptional equitable remedy ought to be available to identify people who harass others, with base racism, who dox, abuse personal information, and make overt threats of physical harm and death.”
