YouTuber Smash JT reports his website SmashJT.com, which featured a Kotaku Detected page, was shut down after a coordinated campaign was organized by Second Wind Editor-in-Chief Nick Calandra.
Jeff aka Smash JT via Smash JT YouTube
Smash JT had a page on his site titled Kotaku Detected that he described as a “comprehensive directory of individuals who work or have worked at Kotaku, a website that has historically shown to care more about pushing activist agendas and narratives instead of conversations about video games.”
He added, “This page includes some of the writers, editors, and others who have contributed to the downfall of games journalism over the years. Each entry provides relevant information for further research, including their roles, articles, and/or linked video explanations.”
“Whether you’re a researcher, enthusiast, or industry professional, this resource is designed to spotlight the people behind Kotaku’s content and hold them accountable for their actions,” he concluded.
Screenshot of Kotaku Detected
READ: Kotaku Senior Editor Alyssa Mercante Threatens Legal Action Against YouTuber Smash JT
The page was seemingly described as a hit list by Kotaku Senior Editor Alyssa Mercante. She wrote on X, “Oh we’re making hit lists now? Normal, sane, fully legal behavior.”
Alyssa Mercante on X
Ironically, this description came in the wake of Mercante sharing her own spreadsheet of various YouTubers who have covered her Kotaku articles and behavior on social media.
As captured by MastersoftheTDS, Mercante wrote, “This is an (incomplete) collation of YouTube videos about me and the creators that make them. I’m not watching these, because I’m sure they would cause irreparable psychic damage, but this is just something you all should see.”
It seems that Alyssa is creating a list of creators who have made videos about her.
I find it ironic that this all began with a simple curator list they deemed “harassment,” yet this will be considered acceptable because they are the ones doing it.
I wonder what the purpose of… pic.twitter.com/wiSunDIcx7
— MasteroftheTDS (@MasteroftheTDS) May 24, 2024
After seemingly being described as a “hit list” by Mercante, X user Gigabear reported that Calandra was organizing his followers behind a locked account to report Smash JT’s website.
Calandra wrote, “As it was rightfully pointed out to me, and he is refusing to take down the page, has continued to add more names to it. It needs to be taken down. So please continue reporting to Wix as I am. I’m still waiting for their response.”
.@SmashJT He’s repaying you taking him off by trying to get the website shut down anyway. pic.twitter.com/tV3uGFYOWX
— GIGABEAR (@GigabearPanda) May 27, 2024
Other posts from Calandra are seen with him encouraging his followers to mass report the website. As shared to X by RoloCnG, Calandra wrote, “I am not spending another week tweeting about this baloney, I have ACTUAL work to do. I will be actively working to take this list down this week, and once again, I suggest you do the same. I’m done messing around with these guys.”
He added, “Here’s the link -smashjt.com/kotaku-detected – and I suggest you keep tagging Wix and WixHelp until they take action for breaking their terms of service against targeted harassment. I’m working to talk with a real person there as soon as tomorrow.”
RoloCnG on X
He also posted, “These guys will never stop doing this unless you go after their funding sources. If you follow me and see what’s happening here, I’m asking you to help me stop this before someone gets hurt. Not make jokes about, not dunk on them, it needs to be reported.”
RoloCnG on X
The website was seemingly taken down either early this morning on May 27th or overnight on May 26th. When attempting to access SmashJt.com, one receives the following message: Looks like this domain isn’t connected to a website yet.”
Screenshot of Smashjt.com
After the site was taken down, Mercante celebrated writing on X, “Oop! Website not detected! Huge shoutout to Nick Calandra who reached out to Wix about this site and consistently followed up. Clearly they agree that he was engaging in targeted harassment, among other things.”
She added, “This is a great precedent, a great sign that there are people and places on the internet who know targeted harassment and cyberbullying when they see it!”
Alyssa Mercante on X
GameSpot Editor Jessica Cogswell added, “This RULES ahhh I am so happy for/proud of you babe!!!!!!!”
Jessica Cogswell on X
Smash JT reported on YouTube, “I woke up to [the website being down] and I had people sharing screenshots of people on the other side basically dancing on the grave of smashjt.com, laughing at how they were able to make a coordinated attack to take it down because they felt threatened by public information being listed about journalists and people who work in the game industry and things that they said themselves. They didn’t want to face the mirror. They couldn’t imagine people knowing that and having it all in one location.”
“So what did they do? Instead of apologizing and coming forward and saying, ‘I shouldn’t have said the things I did.’ Nope. They go the complete opposite direction and create a coordinated attack to take down my website by messaging my website host domain, Wix, en masse to make sure they get their way,” he added.
He went on to share an email from Wix that informed him, “Your site was disabled due to privacy violation. According to our Terms of Use you are not allowed to display information (names, family information, pictures) of any private individual without their prior consent. Wix is obligated to remove such infringing content immediately with or without a notice to the user. Please let us know if you have questions.”
Screenshot of Wix’s explanation for why Smashjt.com was shut down.
Smashjt disputes this claim noting, “What private information did I post on my website? None. This is publicly available information. This is public profile pictures from public Twitter accounts and things that were said publicly on their Twitter accounts. So there is nothing personal or private listed here. I went above and beyond to make sure of that.”
“But that doesn’t stop mass tagging, mass flagging, take down attempts by their side,” he continued. “They will make up things and just throw so much information at Wix that Wix is just like, ‘All right, you know what, okay, we’ll take your word for it. That sounds really bad. Okay, we’ll take it down.’ And they did.”
Screenshot of Smash JT via Smash JT YouTube
Smash JT does note that he has responded to Wix and requested the site to be reinstated, but he has not heard back from that at the time of his video.
He said, “I am currently awaiting response from Wix, but I’m not holding my breath on it anytime soon because, first off, it’s Memorial Day in the U.S. It’s a holiday even though people are saying Wix is an Israeli company. I don’t know who these people are, how to really contact anyone directly, it’s a very disorganized system.”
However, he added, “I’m hopeful that level-headedness prevails in this and that they look at the situation as a big misunderstanding because, again, there is nothing that I did illegal here and nothing against any terms of service. This is simply a way for the left to silence the right.”
Screenshot of Smash JT via Smash JT YouTube
What do you make of Calandra organizing a mass reporting of Smash JT’s website?
