Ruining a young woman’s life for sport

In November 2023, Maddie Kowalski, a 19-year-old University of Florida student, discovered that non-consensual intimate videos of her had been posted online. Within hours, the clips were stitched together, posted on X, and became a national trending topic. Strangers dug up information about her friends and family, created AI deepfakes, and made memes. People called and harassed her and her father. She developed PTSD, her hair fell out, and she could not leave her house without being catcalled or having an egg thrown at her. Within a month, she left campus and moved back home. As she later told a reporter, “I just kinda want to get out of here, move somewhere where less people maybe know who I am.”

The Burner Verse

Maddie had unknowingly entered what Wired senior culture writer E.J. Dickson calls the “burner verse.” This is an online community of anonymous accounts, ostensibly created to talk about college sports—coaches, players, recruits, and memes after a team loses. But a corner of this community has emerged that does something much darker: it targets young women. The accounts are “burners,” meaning anonymous, which gives the people behind them cover to dox, spread rumors, and share non-consensual intimate images.