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Last night, New York Magazine debuted this month's cover story, detailing the experiences of 35 women who have publicly accused Bill Cosby of rape. The piece is powerful and moving, a brave act on behalf of the women willing to tell their stories directly and an important piece of interactive journalism highlighting a culture of silence around rape. Unfortunately, unless you read it last night, you can't currently access the report on NYMag.com because the site is down, presumably as a result of a DDoS attack, according to a report by The Daily Dot. A Twitter user by the name of Vikingdom2016 has taken credit for the assault.
Though Vikingdom2016 reportedly told The Daily Dot that the attack had nothing to do with the Cosby story and was done because he "hates New York," it reeks of victim silencing. For 35 women to come out and accuse one of the entertainment industry's most powerful men of repeated sexual abuse is an act of defiance against a history of systemic silencing. Whether the alleged DDoS attacker knew it, by taking the story offline he is following in a grand tradition of keeping women's stories from being heard—a tradition the story itself is trying to break.
On a brighter note, you can still read a cached version of the story while the site is down.
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