Crazy story: My 9yo trans child was so proud and confident that they ended up on the cover of National Geographic Magazine (see my cover pic). It was the "Gender Revolution"! But within days, we were doxxed on KiwiFarms.
The kind and gentle folks who call themselves Kiwi Farmers decided that I was a groomer pedophile and that Avery would only be "safe" if they exposed our full names, addresses, cell phone numbers, places of work, etc. "to protect the children" dontchaknow.
It was the night of an ice storm, when our city was essentially shut down. But within moments of a google alert (because I'm not a complete noob), we noticed cars stopping in front of our house. In the middle of an ice storm.
Panic started to creep in. We watched updates on our thread as more and more very private information was share. Not all accurate. (Mostly not accurate, but that doesn't matter to them.) But those cars. In an ice storm...
Our kids were 9 and 10. It was past their bedtime, but they noticed that mom and dad were still up and talking an awful lot. We were on the phone with everyone we could think of. What do we do? How do we stop this? The cars in front of our house...
Over the next few days, we spoke to the local police. They sent us to the FBI cyber crimes unit. They contacted federal district attorneys. Folks started investigating. They wanted to help. They wanted to. But they kept running into dead ends.
Who has the authority? The URL is registered in one state. The hosting is in another. Something to do with Canada. The administration is changing...we might not get federal help once the new President is in place because we all know his real views...
Meanwhile, the Nat Geo story made headlines. A local reporter stopped by while I was ending a call with the FBI. He overheard a bit of the convo, and while I said "this is all off the record," he used it as his headline the next day. "Online trolls are after this family."
Of course, that only made people want to discover who the trolls were, and they found the KF thread. It was then linked in 100s of stories globally. I thought our life was literally over as each new google citation came in.
MY CHILD WAS 9. Nine.
They bragged in the thread that I "must be watching" so they wanted to elevate things for me to read. So many comments about driving me to suicide...for my child's benefit.
MY CHILD WAS 9.
They bragged in the thread that I "must be watching" so they wanted to elevate things for me to read. So many comments about driving me to suicide...for my child's benefit.
MY CHILD WAS 9.
The authorities were stuck. They couldn't decide on jurisdiction. They told me to just file a lawsuit and hope for the best. But I had already seen how KF would post screen grabs of other suits and brag about them...use them to further torment their victims.
This wasn't about me. This was about my child. I wanted to take them on, but my child was scared. We tried to keep things calm at home. I mean...they were only 9. But kids are perceptive. They pick up on things. My anxiety and fear wasn't as masked as I thought.
So I turned to Google. I was connected to folks on their LGBTQ ERG and they helped. After a couple of months, they realized how bad KF was and decided to stop indexing their pages. That meant no more KF pages would turn in up search results for any person they targeted!
I was so proud of this victory. It was one that I couldn't share publicly, because I didn't want farmers to know what was happening. I hoped it would be a slow and silent death to the site.
But apparently, somewhere along the line, they changed their mind.
But apparently, somewhere along the line, they changed their mind.
I regularly search our names...just to be sure. I still don't see KF pages.
But @keffals said that search results were showing up for her. I was devastated to read that after all that we had been through. I thought we had done something to keep our trans friends safe.
But @keffals said that search results were showing up for her. I was devastated to read that after all that we had been through. I thought we had done something to keep our trans friends safe.
@keffals When Clara began her very public fight against KF after being doxxed and swatted, my panic attacks started in earnest. I didn't want to not cheer for her, but I also was terrified about how much new traffic she was generating for them.
@keffals Avery is still a minor. But the farmers don't care about details like age. They will go after anyone they think they can hurt.
Our thread is still very active because of a few other well-known targets. I was terrified of more people finding our person information.
Our thread is still very active because of a few other well-known targets. I was terrified of more people finding our person information.
@keffals But HOLY F&$%!!! She has done it! She and a mighty team of other trans women have done what so many legal authorities couldn't. They have stopped Kiwi Farms in its tracks. They are holding those terrorists accountable.
@keffals Avery is just 15. More than a third of Avery's life has been lived in the shadows of Kiwi Farms terrorism. My bright and confident kid withered away, decided that being a proud and public trans kid ruined their life, and didn't even want to acknowledge being trans anymore.
@keffals But now, things have changed. Today was overcast but we felt nothing but sun on our faces. We know the terror is over. Avery is free.
@keffals In the last few years, I have begged people not to even mention Kiwi Farms by name. I have killed relationships with people who would name them because it made it unsafe for us to be connected. But I won't have to do that anymore.
@keffals I'm going to get my kid back. <3
That's it. That's the point of this thread. I'm going to get my bright and shining, confident and happy kid back.
I honestly don't even know how to end this, because I'm crying too much.
I. HAVE. MY. CHILD. AGAIN.
That's it. That's the point of this thread. I'm going to get my bright and shining, confident and happy kid back.
I honestly don't even know how to end this, because I'm crying too much.
I. HAVE. MY. CHILD. AGAIN.
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