Yes, flashing online images can set off an epileptic seizure – and Newsweek senior writer Kurt Eichenwald, a frequent critic of President-elect Donald Trump, says he’s planning legal action after just such an attack.
This isn’t the first time Eichenwald, who has epilepsy, has been hit with a griefing GIF. He reported facing a similar threat back in October when someone tagged him in a tweet showing a flashing online image of Pepe the Frog, a cartoon character that has been appropriated by extremists.
Strobe lights and rapidly flashing graphics can be epileptogenic – that is, capable of inducing seizures or other health effects for those with photosensitive epilepsy. One infamous case involved a Pokémon TV cartoon that sent hundreds of Japanese children to hospitals in 1997. (Mass hysteria may have played a role.)
In 2008, malicious Internet users posted hundreds of epileptogenic graphics to an online message board run by the Epilepsy Foundation, causing some patients to suffer headaches or seizures.
The causes of photosensitive epilepsy are poorly understood, but the phenomenon appears the primary visual cortex. In vulnerable people, the neural networks that handle rapid changes in imagery may be overly excitable, leading to sensory overload.
It’s thought that about 100,000 Americans with epilepsy are photosensitive, and the Epilepsy Foundation’s website says as many as 800,000 more could be photosensitive but unaware of the risk they face.
Eichenwald is quite aware. He said he fended off the October attack by dropping his iPad before a seizure set in. He wasn’t so lucky the second time around. Here’s what he said today in a parting series of tweets:
“For self-protection, I am taking a short twitter break. I will be spending that time with my lawyers & law enforcement going after 1 of u…
“Last night, for the second time, a deplorable aware I have epilepsy tweeted a strobe at me with the message ‘you deserve a seizure’ on it… It worked. This is not going to happen again. My wife is terrified. I am…disgusted. All I will be tweeting for the next few days are copies of documents from the litigation, police reports etc. Once we have the lawsuit filed, we will be subpoenaing Twitter for the identity of the individual who engaged in this cross-state assault.
“At this point, the police are attempting to determine if this is a federal crime because it appears to be cross state. This kind of assault will never happen again without huge consequences. This individual will be going to court, and he will be paying a price. And if any of you others ever try this again, I will make sure it happens to you.
“Online anonymity does not protect criminals. That’s why subpoenas exist. You are facing a criminal investigation and a lawsuit. So if any of you others think about trying this ‘cute’ prank, consider the consequences. They will be severe.”
As you might expect, Eichenwald’s tweets led to more Twitter taunts, including at least one more epileptogenic GIF. Maybe it’s just as well they went unread by their target. Eichenwald said he won’t be using his Twitter account for a while, except to pass along paperwork relating to the legal case:
Otherwise, I'll be back once it is clear from the paperwork i will be tweeting that this is not a joke. See you soon.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 16, 2016
