Twitter Used As A Weapon To Give ‘Vanity Fair’ Editor A Seizure

[froggyboy604]

How did this happen, you ask? As you might know, rapidly flashing images/lights can provoke a seizure in people, especially if you’re someone who is epileptic. This seems to be something that Twitter user @jew_goldstein knew when he/she posted an flashing GIF directed at Vanity Fair and Newsweek writer Kurt Eichenwald, which reportedly caused a seizure.

In response to the attack, Eichenwald’s wife posted on his account on his behalf which read, “@jew_goldstein This is his wife, you caused a seizure. I have your information and have called the police to report the assault.” Eichenwald later followed up with a lengthy series of tweets detailing his experience and his stand on the matter.

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This is unfortunate that the Editor from Vanity Fair got a seizure by staring at an Animated Gif from twitter.

I wonder if there are other seizure victims from an animated gif who did not come forward, or were ignored because they are not celebrities like this editor who edits for Vanity Fair.

 

[2045]

It's unfortunate that the guy had a seizure, but I highly doubt that there is anything the police can do about this. I don't know of any laws against posting flashy gifs on someone's Twitter page.

 

[froggyboy604]

It's unfortunate that the guy had a seizure, but I highly doubt that there is anything the police can do about this. I don't know of any laws against posting flashy gifs on someone's Twitter page.

According to an original article, There is a message written in the Animated GIF which read "You Deserve a Seizure for your posts", so the Twitter troll user may of intended to cause a seizure to the Editor.

The troll may of been joking, and did not intend to cause a seizure, and the judge may believe him since it is difficult to tell if someone is joking or not telling the truth.

Sadly, I feel sometimes the police would not do much to help because the police sometimes don't take non-physical bullying like a verbal or written threats seriously unless bullies use physical violence which can cause real harm, and it is difficult capturing someone who hides behind a username online where they can use Proxysite, VPN, Tor, or a hacked Twitter account to hide their identity. This Twitter troll may live in another country which don't deport people to the US for crimes.

The Vanity Fair editor may have to spend a lot of his own money hiring a private detective to find the troll and gather evidence, and a lawyer to sue the guy, so it maybe very costly to sue the guy if the US legal system does not help him out.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

An unsettling idea really, makes you fearful of what to click.

 

[froggyboy604]

An unsettling idea really, makes you fearful of what to click.

Maybe Twitter should stop auto-playing animated gif, or set the speed of the animated gif to a slower speed which does not cause seizures because of fast flashing animations.

 

[2045]

Maybe Twitter should stop auto-playing animated gif, or set the speed of the animated gif to a slower speed which does not cause seizures because of fast flashing animations.

Or the person could just close their eyes and turn their head away from the monitor screen. It only takes 1 second to do that. Or if you're using a laptop, just quickly close the lid.

 

[froggyboy604]

Or the person could just close their eyes and turn their head away from the monitor screen. It only takes 1 second to do that. Or if you're using a laptop, just quickly close the lid.

I read another article on Engadget that this is not the first time someone sent him a flashing animated video file. But, the last time, he was able to quickly drop his iPad to prevent the seizure from the last flashing video, But, this time he was not lucky enough to quickly look away.

"Back in October, Eichenwald wrote in Newsweek that someone pinged him with a video of "flashing circles and images of Pepe flying toward the screen" after he wrote about how the President-Elect's businesses could undermine national security. He was able to drop his iPad before the animation triggered a seizure that time, though -- he wasn't so lucky this time."

Engadget

I think his seizures can happen in less than a second of watching a very fast flashing color video.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

Or the person could just close their eyes and turn their head away from the monitor screen. It only takes 1 second to do that. Or if you're using a laptop, just quickly close the lid.

age pending, a person might not be able to look away in time.

 

[froggyboy604]

age pending, a person might not be able to look away in time.

The guy who got the seizure from a flashy Twitter post is 55 according to his Bio at Wikipedia. He may also be suffering from other physical and mental health problems from his seizures which may prevent him from quickly looking away, or drop what he is doing to stop the seizure.

A lot of people with serious health problems are not very active because they have to deal with their illness, and their illness may prevent them from being active and fit.

 

[CM30]

It's bad, but I will mention that it's not really a thing Twitter could have done much about. After all, any service online could have been used here. Facebook, an internet forum, a personal site or blog... anything that allows posting images has this risk.

Disabling gif animations by default could help, though that seems like it'd be punishing the majority for the actions of a tiny group of scumbags. Suing them could work, though it'd be both painful to find out the necessary information and raise questions of exactly what you could have them charged for.

Either way, it sucks. But I'm not sure there's anything that can practically be done here.