Anonymous College Sports Burner Accounts Turned Cyberharassment Into a 'Sport,' WIRED Investigation Finds
A WIRED podcast investigation details the 'burnerverse,' a loose network of anonymous college sports accounts on X that spread nonconsensual explicit videos of a University of Florida sophomore, viewed over 8.5 million times, while police, her university and sorority offered little help.
WIRED's Uncanny Valley podcast this week examines what's become known as the "burnerverse" — a loosely organized network of anonymous college sports fan accounts on X, a segment of which has turned the sexual humiliation of young women into what senior writer Ej Dickson describes as a participatory sport. Dickson spent months reporting the story and discussed it with host Zoë Schiffer.
The episode centers on Maddie Kowalski, who last year was a University of Florida sophomore when burner accounts began circulating nonconsensual explicit videos of her, filmed while she was heavily intoxicated. The hashtag with her name trended nationally on X and was viewed more than 8.5 million times. Over the following 24 hours, anonymous accounts harassed her and her family, called her parents with false and degrading claims, and publicly wagered on whether she would start an adult-content account or take her own life.
Limited recourse
When Kowalski reported the harassment to police in Gainesville, she says she was told simply to change her phone number. Her university learned about the videos before she did and opened a Title IX investigation, but closed it within a month, citing no evidence the videos were filmed on campus. Dickson says Kowalski's sorority largely disavowed her, reportedly discussing internally how the incident would affect the chapter's reputation.
Lawyers found the case difficult to categorize, Dickson said, because unlike typical revenge-porn cases involving an ex-partner, this involved strangers with no clear motive or connection to the victim. After a monthslong investigation, Gainesville police charged three men, including two freshmen from the Theta Chi fraternity, with misdemeanor sexual cyberharassment, punishable by up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
X did not respond to WIRED's request for comment. Dickson noted the platform does comply with individual takedown requests under the Take It Down Act, but removed videos are quickly replaced by new copies, making enforcement largely ineffective.
