During theGamergate harassment campaign, Benjamin promoted theconspiracy theory that feminists were infiltrating video game research groups to influence game development.[6][7][8] Since Gamergate, he has focused on promotingBrexit and criticisingfeminism,Islam,identity politics, and what he views aspolitical correctness in the media and other institutions. Benjamin has been described as politicallyright-wing andfar-right by multiple outlets. He denies this description of his politics, instead calling himself aclassical liberal and a sceptic.
YouTube career
Benjamin'sYouTube channel drew attention during theGamergate harassment campaign in 2014.[9][10]Inside Higher Ed said his videos on the topic advanced aconspiracy theory in which he argued members of theDigital Games Research Association (DiGRA) were actively plotting to influencevideo game development, saying DiGRA "became co-opted by feminists to become a think tank by which gender ideologues can disseminate their ideology to the gaming press and ultimately to gamers".[6][7][8] He also posted content that was critical offeminist video game critics and academics and posted content that wascritical of feminism in general.[11] That year, Benjamin said that he had named his channelSargon of Akkad because he was "a lover of history and the lessons it can teach us".[12]
AtVidCon 2017, the media criticAnita Sarkeesian appeared on a panel discussing online harassment directed towards women. A group ofYouTubers who had frequently criticised Sarkeesian in the past, including Benjamin, filled one half of the first three rows of the audience and filmed Sarkeesian as part of a targeted harassment campaign against her.[13][14][15][16] Sarkeesian singled out Benjamin as a serial harasser of hers, calling him a "garbage human".[16][17][18] The event went viral among both critics and supporters of Sarkeesian.[17] Benjamin accused Sarkeesian of abuse andcyberbullying and said that he would have wanted to know how she "would like to be approached"; in a blog post, Sarkeesian wrote:[14][16]
[Benjamin] makes over $5,000 a month onPatreon for creating YouTube videos that mock, insult and discredit myself and other women online, and he's not alone. He is one of several YouTubers who profit from the cottage industry of online harassment and antifeminism.
Hank Green, the founder of VidCon, issued a statement that the group's actions were clear "intimidating behaviour" and apologised for the situation "which resulted in [Sarkeesian] being subjected to a hostile environment that she had not signed up for".[13][14] Patreon also investigated the claims of harassment, but determined that although they considered his actions "distasteful", Benjamin had not violated their code of conduct.[13]
In March 2018,Antifa protesters broke into a scheduled discussion between Benjamin andYaron Brook byKing's College London's Libertarian Society at the school. Masked protestors attacked security guards, set off smoke bombs, broke windows and set off a fire alarm. The event organisers called the police, cancelled the event and evacuated the building. The organiser reported that two security guards were hospitalised.[19][20]
Patreon banned Benjamin in December 2018, when he was earning over US$12,000 a month.[9] According to Patreon, Benjamin violated the site's rules on hate speech by using "racial and homophobic slurs to degrade another individual".[21][22] A number of users, includingSam Harris,Jordan Peterson, andDave Rubin, left the platform following the ban of Benjamin,[23] with Benjamin and Rubin moving onto Peterson's serviceThinkspot.[24][25]
Harris stated that he did not "share the politics of the banned members," but objected to what he described as "political bias" on Patreon. As part of their explanation for why they dropped Benjamin, Patreon published a transcript of a YouTube video in which Benjamin stated that members of the alt-right were "acting likewhite niggers" because "Exactly how you describe black people acting is the impression I get dealing with the Alt-Right." He added that: "White people are meant to be polite and respectful to one another."[23] Later in the video, Benjamin stated: "don't expect me to have a debate with one of yourfaggots."[26] In response, Benjamin said that his targets were not black or homosexual, and claimed that the epithet "nigger" is not offensive in Britain, as it is in the United States.[26] Benjamin also argued that the comments had been taken out of context.[27]
In May 2019, YouTube suspended Benjamin's Sargon of Akkad channel from the YouTube Partner Program.[5] In May 2019, Benjamin was suspended from Twitter.[5] His account was reinstated in November 2022, a few weeks afterElon Musktook control of the platform.[28]
In November 2020, Benjamin launched Lotus Eaters, a podcast platform, which takes its name fromLotus-eaters fromHomer'sOdyssey. In May 2024, former prime ministerLiz Truss appeared as a guest onTomlinson Talks, a show hosted for the site by Connor Tomlinson.[29] In response, Labour MPJess Phillips, about whom Benjamin had previously made a rape joke saying he "wouldn't even rape her", urgedRishi Sunak, Truss's successor as prime minister andleader of the Conservative Party, to deselect Truss as a candidate.[30][31][32]
Political career
In response toJess Phillips' statement thatrape threats are commonplace for her, Benjamin said in May 2016, "I wouldn't even rape you #AntiRapeThreats #FeminismIsCancer" in a YouTube video, and repeated this onTwitter.[20][33] He declined to apologise for the comment.[34] Benjamin was investigated byWest Midlands Police for the comment, and a police spokesperson said he was "dealt with by way of words of advice".[35][36]
In June 2018, Benjamin joined theUK Independence Party (UKIP), along with YouTuberMark Meechan, better known by his online name Count Dankula, and far-right conspiracy theoristPaul Joseph Watson.[37] The trio's membership was described by political analysts as part of a shift to thefar-right in UKIP underGerard Batten's leadership.[37][38][39][40] In theEuropean Parliament's2019 elections in theUnited Kingdom, Benjamin was second on UKIP's list for theSouth West England constituency.[41][42] Benjamin was not elected, with his party getting only 3.22% of the vote in his native South West England constituency (a drop of 29.1% from 2014), and losing both of its seats in the region, as well as all twenty-two of its seats across the rest of Britain.[43]
At a UKIP press conference announcing his candidacy, Benjamin again declined to apologise for his comment about Phillips, saying "a decent person doesn't laugh about male suicide" and that he would apologise if Phillips apologised for her position on men.[44] Benjamin also stated that she was being a "giant bitch" for "laughing about male suicide", and so he was justified in being a "giant dick back".[45] Phillips had previously critiqued the idea of a "men's day", but also said that male suicide is a serious issue.[45][46]
In response to the controversy, the chairman of the Swindon branch of UKIP called for Benjamin to be deselected, which was rejected by Batten.[47] Later in the campaign, Benjamin made additional negative comments about Phillips, saying he might rape her, but "nobody's got that much beer".[36] He said this was a joke, and was empowering to victims of rape, because "it's a lot more empowering to not be controlled by jokes".[48][49] TheUniversity of the West of England cancelled ahustings event for fears of disturbances, and bothGloucester Cathedral andExeter Cathedral banned him a few days later from a separate election event it was hosting.[50][51] In 2024, Benjamin apologised to Phillips for the joke, saying he had changed since he made it and did not want to be a corrosive force in British politics.[52][better source needed]
In February 2020, Benjamin launched the group Hearts of Oak with the Britishfar-right activistTommy Robinson and former UKIP members. Members of the group say that it is not a political party, but a "cultural movement" focused on "strong borders, immigration and national identity," "authorities privileging and protecting Islam alone", and "freedom of speech".[2]
Political views
Benjamin is an anti-feminist.[9][11][23][53][54] He is also an advocate forBrexit and a critic of Islam,[27][55] and has argued for a reduction in immigration to the UK from majority Islamic countries.[56] He has opposed online feminist movements such as the British group Reclaim the Internet, which he called "social communism".[34] Following the2014 Isla Vista killings, Benjamin said thatsocial justice feminism was a "disease of the modern age" that had disenfranchised and radicalised young men, causing a rise in the number of mass murders.[57]
While on a panel in New York City in 2018, he said: "Jewish people, unfortunately for them, have got to drop the identity politics. I'm sorry about theHolocaust but I don't give a shit. I'm sorry."[58] In May 2018, Benjamin was a speaker at a right-wing "Day of Freedom" rally in support of Tommy Robinson, after Robinson was banned from Twitter forhate speech. At the rally, Benjamin voiced opposition to "totalitarianism,identity politics andIslamism".[59][60]
Benjamin was born Carl Charles Benjamin in September 1979.[78] He lives with his family inSwindon.[34] As of October 2020, he was anatheist.[79] In April 2025 Benjamin reaffirmed his atheistic belief, however, stated that he was pro-Christianity because, "it is the traditional religion of thewest" and that "the future that the atheists are opening up to us are where man... is just material blob living in a meat sack, living on a rock, and so there's nothing sacred about him..."[80][81]
^abStraumstein, Carl (11 November 2014)."#Gamergate and Games Research".Inside Higher Ed.Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved21 March 2017.Sargon of Akkad, a YouTube user who regularly discusses "gaming, anti-feminism, history and fiction" on his channel, has fueled that conspiracy theory.
^abAghazadeh, Sarah A.; Burns, Alison; Chu, Jun; Feigenblatt, Hazel; Laribee, Elizabeth; Maynard, Lucy; Meyers, Amy L. M.; O’Brien, Jessica L.; Rufus, Leah (2018). "GamerGate: A Case Study in Online Harassment". In Golbeck, Jennifer (ed.).Online Harassment. Human–Computer Interaction Series. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. pp. 179–207.doi:10.1007/978-3-319-78583-7_8.ISBN978-3319785820.LCCN2018939005.
^Miller, Eva (2022). "Making Sargon Great Again: Reuse and Reappropriation of Ancient Mesopotamian Imagery in Fan-Art of the Online Right". In Kamash, Zena; Soar, Katy; Van Broak, Leen (eds.).Comics and Archaeology. Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels.Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 75–96.doi:10.1007/978-3-030-98919-4_4.ISBN978-3-030-98918-7.
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