I’m sure you’re all aware by now about the Harry Potter Game “Hogwarts Legacy.” It’s a popular game to stream online, but it’s also highly controversial.

I’m not surprised that this is happening, as the controversies surrounding J. K. Rowling have been ongoing for quite a long time now, what with her transphobic statements, the anti-Semitic and racist content of her books, and more. I guess it’s for this reason that people find it acceptable to attack

https://twitter.com/Dexerto/status/1622770368758050817

A video that Dexerto uploaded featured GirlfriendReviews, a Twitch Channel that features couple Matt and Shelby. They were the victim of bullying and harassment, as people in their chat were verbally attacking them for playing the game. “I’m almost thinking of just going offline. I’m barely into the second combat here and every time I look at chat, the conversation is just bothering me,” said Matt, to which Shelby replied that they could go on a quick break. Matt then tells Shelby to take a break while he stops talking to go through the combat. Listening to the video, you can actually hear Shelby on the verge of tears.

This is not an isolated case. In his news show Things Vtubers Say https://youtu.be/8Mroyk-qWNg, FalseEyeD briefly tackled something similar happening to Vtubers. He brought up famous Vtubers such as Hakos Baelz and Amano Pikamee whose tweets surrounding the game (in the case of Baelz, she mentioned learning all Harry Potter spells) were met with replies from their fans. These replies consisted of them telling the Vtuber to either not play the game, to play something else, or that they would not be watching them if they will. Granted, this is not as severe as the case above, but it is still nonetheless because of their plans to play the game.

I understand that Rowling is a TERF, among other things, and I think I understand where the harassers are coming from: They believe that because they are supporting problematic media/people, they are “guilty by association” and, therefore, it’s okay, if not required, to be mean to them. They probably justify it as a necessary part of changing the world, an “ends justify the means” kind of thing. I may have thought the same way before (and in a lot of ways, still do, I’m working on fixing that), but something about this feels a bit much. Probably because I actually know these streamers rather than crusading against a hypothetical "alt-right Republican." I don’t like Rowling nor am I a Harry Potter fan, but I’m a fan of many Vtubers who have streamed the game, and I know most, if not all of them, wouldn’t condone things like transphobia or anti-semitism. These streamers are, for all intents and purposes, innocent.

But then I remember that I was a conservative before I joined the whole social justice movement, and even then I don’t know how proper activism works, so maybe I just don’t know enough about what’s going on. Are the streamers actually in the wrong here? Is this all just a part of bringing change?