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Law & Order is sending Ice-T to investigate Gamergate-style harassment

Law & Order is sending Ice-T to investigate Gamergate-style harassment

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The Gamergate movement, irrecoverably linked to the online harassment of women in the games industry, has drawn the ire of Joss Whedon, Patton Oswalt, Seth Rogen, and a number of other celebrities. But people who doxx, SWAT, and threaten women on the internet are set to face their biggest challenge yet in early February — Ice T.

The TV detectives get involved after a woman is assaulted at a convention

The rapper, actor, and Body Count vocalist, who plays Odafin "Fin" Tutuola in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, is set to delve into the world of internet harassment in an episode of the show set to air on February 11th. The episode, titled "Intimidation Game," will see the SVU's detectives get involved in a case after a female employee is assaulted at a gaming convention. Ice-T and friends will help Raina Punjabi, a video game developer facing a barrage of online insults, intimidation, and threats from "the male-dominated gaming community" as she gears up to release her first game. The parallels with Gamergate — a movement that's been tied to bomb threats, attempts to reveal private information, and direct death threats against women in games — are clear.

Law & Order: SVU prefaces its episodes with a disclaimer that notes "the preceding story is fictional," but it's certainly not the first time the show, now in its sixteenth season, has lifted from real-world headlines for its inspiration. Viewers will hope Ice-T and his colleagues at the SVU will be able to "level-up" to protect the make-believe game developer, but one person — even one as multi-talented as Ice-T — will have a tough time trying to stop the kind of harassment and abuse real-world women such as Anita Sarkeesian receive on a daily basis.