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#REDIRECT [[Controversial Reddit communities#Jailbait]] {{R from merge}}.
{{Infobox person
| name = Michael Brutsch
| birth_date = January 19, 1963
| other_names = violentacrez
| known_for = Former [[Reddit]] moderator
}}

'''Michael Brutsch''' (born January 19, 1963) is a former moderator of several subreddits on the [[social news]] site [[Reddit]] who contributed under the username '''violentacrez'''. Under that account, Brutsch generated controversy due to his contributions to various sections of the site, or subreddits, devoted to explicit material. The "jailbait" subreddit he created was a prominent subreddit on the site before it was closed down in October 2011 following a report by [[CNN]].<ref name=jailbaitclosure>{{cite news|last=Morris|first=Kevin|title=What r/jailbait's closure really means|url=http://www.dailydot.com/society/reddit-r-jailbait-teen-pics-problem/|accessdate=28 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Dot]]|date=11 October 2011}}</ref> His ability to identify and remove illegal content from the areas he moderated helped Brutsch develop a close relationship with staff at Reddit despite his controversial activities. Brutsch's involvement with another controversial subreddit a year after jailbait's closure prompted a [[Gawker]] exposé by [[Adrian Chen]], which revealed Brutsch was the user behind the violentacrez account. This started discussion in the media about the ethics of [[anonymity]] and [[doxing|outing]] anonymous users on the [[Internet]].<ref name=Gawkerexpose>{{cite news|last=Chen|first=Adrian|title=Unmasking Reddit’s Violentacrez, The Biggest Troll on the Web|url=http://gawker.com/5950981/unmasking-reddits-violentacrez-the-biggest-troll-on-the-web|accessdate=28 October 2012|newspaper=[[Gawker]]|date=12 October 2012}}</ref>

==Reddit Career as "violentacrez"==
Brutsch found Reddit through a link on ''[[Boing Boing]]'' in 2007 and created the account violentacres (later replaced with "violentacrez"), deriving the name from that of one of his favorite anonymous bloggers. When he began adding provocative material to the site he initially faced opposition from Reddit's staff, but they eventually became more lenient when he proved capable of identifying illegal content at a time when they were not sufficiently staffed to take on the task. This led to Brutsch developing a close relationship with the senior members of the site and his subreddits saw rising popularity, with his jailbait subreddit—featuring provocative shots of teenagers—being named "subreddit of the year" in 2008 and at one point making "jailbait" the second most common search term for the site.<ref name=Gawkerexpose /> Chris Slowe, a lead programmer of Reddit until 2010, said of the relationship between Brutsch and the Reddit staff: "We just stayed out of there and let him do his thing and we knew at least he was getting rid of a lot of stuff that wasn't particularly legal."<ref name=Gawkerexpose /> Erik Martin, general manager of Reddit, defended the jailbait subreddit by saying that such controversial pages were a consequence of allowing free speech on the site.<ref name=AlfonsoIII>{{cite news|last=Alfonso III|first=Fernando|title=A free-speech haven wrestles with violent images|url=http://www.dailydot.com/society/reddit-beatingwomen-misogyny-images/|accessdate=28 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Dot]]|date=11 August 2011}}</ref>

An image Brutsch added to the subreddit r/beatingwomen, which Brutsch also moderated as violentacrez, was criticized by the larger Reddit community when a post made on Reddit in August 2011 condemned the image and subreddit. In response, Brutsch told ''[[The Daily Dot]]'' that the issue was being taken "way too seriously," and added "I was not surprised by the outrage of the person who made the post, because I see it all the time. What was surprising was the community support for it."<ref name=AlfonsoIII />

The jailbait subreddit that Brutsch created came to wider attention outside Reddit when [[Anderson Cooper]] of [[CNN]] devoted a segment of [[Anderson Cooper 360|his program]] to condemning the subreddit and criticizing Reddit for hosting it.<ref>{{cite news|last=Morris|first=Kevin|title=Anderson Cooper boosts visibility of teen-girl pics|url=http://www.dailydot.com/society/anderson-cooper-reddit-jailbait-traffic/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006043234/http://www.reddit.com/r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/kzlga/traffic_statistics_for_rjailbait|archivedate=6 October 2011|accessdate=28 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Dot]]|date=3 October 2011}}</ref> This initially caused a spike in Internet traffic to the subreddit, with Brutsch (as violentacrez) noting on Reddit that the page had peaked at 1.73 million views on the day of the report.<ref>{{cite web|title=Traffic statistics for /r/jailbait|url=http://www.reddit.com/r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/kzlga/traffic_statistics_for_rjailbait/|publisher=[[Reddit]]|accessdate=28 October 2012}}</ref> Following these news reports, a thread was created in the section by a Reddit user which received dozens of requests for nude photos of a minor the thread creator professed to possess. Other Reddit users drew attention to the discussion and the jailbait section was subsequently closed by administrators on October 10, 2011.<ref>{{cite news|last=Morris|first=Kevin|title=Reddit shuts down r/jailbait|url=http://www.dailydot.com/society/reddit-r-jailbait-shutdown-controversy/|accessdate=28 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Dot]]|date=11 October 2011}}</ref> Brutsch disputed claims that this thread was the basis of the decision, instead claiming it was an excuse to close down a controversial subreddit due to recent negative media coverage.<ref name=jailbaitclosure />

Following the closure of the jailbait subreddit, it was claimed that the thread that allegedly prompted the closure was created by members of the [[Something Awful]] forum who wanted to have the section shut down. Brutsch responded to these allegations by stating his belief that regulars of the subreddit would not have been involved in such a thread.<ref>{{cite news|last=Morris|first=Kevin|title=Did SomethingAwful raid jailbait forum?|url=http://www.dailydot.com/news/somethingawful-reddit-jailbait-takedown/|accessdate=28 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Dot]]|date=13 October 2011}}</ref> The year the jailbait subreddit was closed, violentacrez was declared the most influential person on Reddit by ''The Daily Dot'', which noted his role in moderating around 400 subreddits including dozens of other controversial subreddits and his role in the jailbait controversy that the site described as "the first major challenge to the site’s voluntary doctrine of absolute free speech."<ref>{{cite news|last=Morris|first=Kevin|title=The 10 most important people on Reddit in 2011|url=http://www.dailydot.com/society/daily-dot-top-10-2011-reddit/|accessdate=28 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Dot]]|date=16 December 2011}}</ref>

Brutsch revealed in a Reddit post on June 13, 2012 that admins on the site were banning sites of news sources such as ''[[BusinessWeek]]'' and ''[[The Atlantic]]''. He stated that they were included on a secret list and that not even moderators were allowed to post links to these sites.<ref>{{cite news|title=Reddit Bans Several Prominent News Sites After Cheating Accusations|url=http://www.inquisitr.com/254765/reddit-bans-several-prominent-news-sites-after-cheating-accusations/|accessdate=8 November 2012|newspaper=Inquistir|date=13 June 2012}}</ref> Erik Martin responded by stating the ban was only temporary and another admin stated that such sites were banned because they were rigging the process on Reddit.<ref>{{cite news|last=Voakes|first=Greg|title=Reddit Reportedly Banning High-Quality Domains|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregvoakes/2012/06/13/reddit-reportedly-banning-high-quality-domains/|accessdate=8 November 2012|newspaper=[[Forbes]]|date=13 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Reddit Compiles List of Banned Domains|url=http://www.jdjournal.com/2012/06/14/reddit-compiles-list-of-banned-domains/|accessdate=8 November 2012|newspaper=JD Journal|date=14 June 2012}}</ref> He created a subreddit, "BannedDomains," for redditors to mention any sites that were being blocked.<ref>{{cite web|title=Domains That Are Banned From Reddit|url=http://www.reddit.com/r/BannedDomains|publisher=[[Reddit]]|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616104718/http://www.reddit.com/r/BannedDomains|archivedate=16 June 2012|accessdate=22 April 2013}}</ref>

===Gawker exposé===
After Brutsch's violentacrez account was noted, a year later, as a moderator of a subreddit called "creepshots," which had been the subject of recent attention in the press, reports emerged that [[Adrian Chen]] was planning an exposé that would reveal the operator of the violentacrez account. Several major subreddits banned links to [[Gawker]] in response to the impending exposé and Brutsch deleted the violentacrez account, though he stated this was in response to Reddit's support of the "ShitRedditSays" subreddit that advocates stricter controls on content and not the impending exposé.<ref>{{cite news|last=Alfonso III|first=Fernando|title=Redditors declare war on Gawker Media|url=http://www.dailydot.com/news/gawker-reddit-banned-adrian-chen-violentacrez/|accessdate=28 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Dot]]|date=11 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Roy|first=Jessica|title=Reddit Readies for Brewing ‘Inter-Website War’; Major Subreddits Ban Links to Gawker Media|url=http://betabeat.com/2012/10/reddit-readies-for-brewing-inter-website-war-bans-links-to-gawker-media/|accessdate=28 October 2012|newspaper=BetaBeat|date=11 October 2012}}</ref><ref name=Morris>{{cite news|last=Morris|first=Kevin|title=Clearing up rumors and hearsay as the Internet eagerly awaits the Gawker Reddit story|url=http://www.dailydot.com/news/reddit-adrian-chen-violentacrez-gawker-rumors/|accessdate=28 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Dot]]|date=12 October 2012}}</ref> Moderators defended their decisions to block the site from these sections of Reddit on the basis that the impending report was "[[doxing]]", exposing the identity of a pseudonymous redditor, and that such exposure threatened the site's structural integrity.<ref name=Morris />

When Chen informed Brutsch about the impending exposé, Brutsch pleaded with Chen not to publish it because he was concerned about the potential impact on his employment and finances, noting that his wife was disabled and he had a mortgage to pay. He also expressed concern that he would be falsely labeled a child pornographer or anti-Semite because of some of the subreddits he created. Despite Brutsch offering to delete his postings and leave Reddit, Chen insisted he would still publish the piece.<ref name=Gawkerexpose /><ref name=DailyBeast>{{cite news|last=Klein|first=Alex|title=Why Gawker Should Lose Its War With Reddit|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/18/why-gawker-should-lose-its-war-with-reddit.html|accessdate=29 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=18 October 2012}}</ref> Chen published the piece on October 12, revealing that Brutsch was the operator of the violentacrez account.<ref name=Gawkerexpose /> Within a day of the article being published Brutsch's position at First Cash was terminated, along with his health benefits, and the link to the exposé was said to have been briefly banned from Reddit.<ref>{{cite news|last=Alfonso III|first=Fernando|title=Reddit's most notorious troll loses job after Gawker profile|url=http://www.dailydot.com/news/violentacrez-reddit-troll-fired-gawker-profile/|accessdate=29 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Dot]]|date=15 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Violentacrez Fired: Michael Brutsch Loses Job After Reddit Troll Identity Exposed By Gawker|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/15/michael-brutsch-reddits-biggest-loses-job-identity-gawker_n_1967727.html|accessdate=29 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Huffington Post]]|date=15 October 2012}}</ref> Brutsch stated on Reddit after the article was published that he has received numerous death threats.<ref>{{cite news|last=Levy|first=Megan|title=Internet troll sacked from job after identity revealed|url=http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/internet-troll-sacked-from-job-after-identity-revealed-20121016-27o6k.html|accessdate=29 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=16 October 2012}}</ref>

Reddit CEO [[Yishan Wong]] defended the content Brutsch contributed to the site as free speech and criticized efforts to ban the Gawker link on the same basis.<ref>{{cite news|title=Reddit CEO defends free speech – even for creeps like Violentacrez|url=http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/10/17/reddit-ceo-defends-free-speech-and-creepy-user-violentacrez/|accessdate=30 October 2012|newspaper=[[Fox News]]|date=17 October 2012}}</ref> Wong stated that the staff had considered a site-wide ban on the link, but rejected this idea for fear it would create a negative impression of the site without producing any positive results.<ref name=PCMag>{{cite news|last=Albanesius|first=Chloe|title=Reddit CEO Defends Free Speech, Talks Violentacrez Scandal|url=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2411077,00.asp|accessdate=30 October 2012|newspaper=[[PC Magazine]]|date=17 October 2012}}</ref> Brutsch started posting about the controversy on Reddit under the account mbrutsch and criticized what he stated were numerous factual inaccuracies in the Gawker exposé. A member of the Reddit community organized an effort on the "circlejerkers" subreddit to give money to Brutsch through [[PayPal]] in a show of support.<ref>{{cite news|last=Roy|first=Jessica|title=Violentacrez Takes to Reddit to Solicit Sympathy, PayPal Donations|url=http://betabeat.com/2012/10/violentacrez-takes-to-reddit-to-solicit-sympathy-paypal-donations/|accessdate=30 October 2012|newspaper=BeatBeat|date=15 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Carlson|first=Dustin|title=Redditors Donate Money To Their Biggest Troll, ‘Violentacrez’|url=http://socialnewsdaily.com/3403/redditors-donate-money-to-their-biggest-troll/|accessdate=30 October 2012|newspaper=SocialNewsDaily}}</ref>

A week after the exposé, Brutsch was interviewed by journalist [[Drew Griffin]] for a segment that aired on CNN's ''Anderson Cooper 360''. In the interview, Brutsch was apologetic about his activity on Reddit, saying he had made a mistake by not listening to people concerned about his contributions. He explained that he was most fond of the appreciation he got from other redditors for his contributions, having been the seventh most popular member of the site as violentacrez, and that Reddit helped him relieve stress. Brutsch also described the support he had from administrators, stating that he had received an award from Reddit for his contributions. Reddit noted that the award was for winning a community vote for "Worst Subreddit", and stated that they regretted sending it as well as claiming the violentacrez account had been banned on several occasions.<ref>{{cite news|last=Alfonso III|first=Fernando|title=Infamous Reddit troll Violentacrez apologizes on CNN|url=http://www.dailydot.com/news/violentacrez-cnn-interview/|accessdate=30 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Dot]]|date=18 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Fitzpatrick|first=David|title=Man behind 'Jailbait' posts exposed, loses job|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/18/us/internet-troll-apology/index.html|accessdate=30 October 2012|date=19 October 2012|newspaper=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bates|first=Daniel|title='It helped me unwind from work': Troll behind 'Creepshot' forum where users post sexual images of unsuspecting girls gives first interview since being unmasked|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2219691/Reddit-troll-Michael-Brutsch-says-posted-sick-comments-unwind-work-interview.html|accessdate=30 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Daily Mail]]|date=18 October 2012}}</ref> Brutsch subsequently posted, on Reddit, that he regretted the interview and criticized the statement Reddit gave to CNN, with one redditor suggesting their claim of having banned the violentacrez account several times was false.<ref name=BeatBeat>{{cite news|last=Roy|first=Jessica|title=Violentacrez Admits Doing CNN Interview Was a ‘Huge Mistake’|url=http://betabeat.com/2012/10/violentacrez-admits-doing-cnn-interview-was-a-huge-mistake/|accessdate=30 October 2012|newspaper=BetaBeat|date=19 October 2012}}</ref>

====Ethics of outing====
Gawker's outing of Brutsch as violentacrez led to contentious discussion about privacy and anonymity on the Internet.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hill|first=Kashmir|title=Why The Internet Cool Kids Think Gawker Outing Reddit's Violentacrez Is The 'Best Story About The Web' This Year|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/10/15/why-the-internet-cool-kids-think-gawker-outing-reddits-violentacrez-is-the-best-story-about-the-web-this-year/|accessdate=31 October 2012|newspaper=[[Forbes]]|date=15 October 2012}}</ref> Such discussions included claims that [[doxing]] was necessary to draw attention to objectionable content so it could be removed and claims that it impedes the ability for people to exercise their right to legal free speech online due to fear of public retribution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ngak|first=Chenda|title=Reddit, Gawker clash raises questions over inappropriate content and privacy|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57534542/reddit-gawker-clash-raises-questions-over-inappropriate-content-and-privacy/|accessdate=31 October 2012|newspaper=[[CBS News]]|date=17 October 2012}}</ref><ref name=NoTears>{{cite news|last=Poeter|first=Damon|title=Shed No Tears for Violentacrez|url=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2411001,00.asp|accessdate=31 October 2012|newspaper=[[PC Magazine]]|date=15 October 2012}}</ref> Whether commentators agreed with the outing or not, opinions were mixed on the ethical consequences of the exposé.

[[Sady Doyle]], writing in ''[[The Guardian]]'', compared it to the outing of the alleged blackmailer of [[Amanda Todd]] and suggested that such outings may be justified, but that they may also unduly focus attention on individuals without confronting the underlying problems by engaging in "sensationalism" at the expense of cultural reform.<ref>{{cite news|last=Doyle|first=Sady|title=Outing online sexual predators is a sensationalist stopgap|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/17/outing-online-sexual-predators-gawker-anonymous|accessdate=31 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=17 October 2012}}</ref> In ''[[PC Magazine]]'', Damon Poeter stated that, while he has defended protecting anonymity on the Internet, he still supported Brutsch being outed because he felt the various subreddits he contributed to as violentacrez were serious invasions of privacy, regardless of legality, and that it was therefore justifiable to reveal his personal details.<ref name=NoTears />

The public outpouring of hostility towards Brutsch following the exposé prompted commentators such as [[Danah Boyd]] at ''[[Wired (website)|Wired]]'' and Michelle Star of ''[[CNET]]'' to question the morality of outing as a way to enforce societal standards online.<ref name=Wired>{{cite news|last=Boyd|first=Danah|title=Truth, Lies, and ‘Doxxing’: The Real Moral of the Gawker/Reddit Story|url=http://www.wired.com/opinion/2012/10/truth-lies-doxxing-internet-vigilanteism/|accessdate=1 November 2012|newspaper=[[Wired (website)|Wired]]|date=29 October 2012}}</ref><ref name=CNET>{{cite news|last=Starr|first=Michelle|title=Gawker, Reddit's Violentacrez and the internet vigilantes|url=http://www.cnet.com.au/gawker-reddits-violentacrez-and-the-internet-vigilantes-339342046.htm|accessdate=1 November 2012|newspaper=[[CNET]]|date=17 October 2012}}</ref> Several commentators have expressed concern that the public shaming of Brutsch may serve as an example to others, legitimizing online vigilantism and exposing individuals such as Brutsch to mass retribution.<ref name=Wired /><ref name=CNET /> Mez Breeze has suggested in The Next Web that, in outing Brutsch, Chen engaged in a type of trolling, making Brutsch "the victim of unwanted bullying and substantial negative attention" as a result of the exposé.<ref name=TNW>{{cite news|last=Breeze|first=Mez|title=The problems with anonymous trolls and accountability in the digital age|url=http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/10/27/the-problems-with-anonymous-trolls-and-accountability-in-the-digital-age/|accessdate=1 November 2012|newspaper=The Next Web|date=27 October 2012}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brutsch, Michael}}
[[Category:American Internet celebrities]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Texas]]
[[Category:Reddit people]]

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