Wired podcast details network of anonymous accounts targeting young women with nonconsensual content

A Wired podcast episode from the series *Uncanny Valley* details the experiences of Maddie Kowalski, a University of Florida student whose explicit, nonconsensual videos were spread via a network of anonymous burner accounts on X. The episode describes the network—dubbed the 'burnerverse'—as a loosely organized system where anonymous accounts amplify the sexual humiliation of young women as a participatory online sport.

The episode features reporting on how the burnerverse operates, including accounts tied to college sports fandom that have been linked to multiple incidents of online abuse. Ej Dickson, a senior writer at Wired, describes the network as an 'amorphous community' of mostly anonymous accounts, with a subset that is 'violently racist, misogynistic, and antisemitic,' and which has made a sport of systematically doxxing women.

Maddie Kowalski’s case is central to the episode. After burner accounts on X proliferated explicit videos of her, she faced rapid, widespread harassment. The content was viewed more than 8.5 million times, and anonymous users posted old photos, contacted her parents, and placed bets on whether she would start an OnlyFans or die by suicide. Kowalski reported the harassment to the Gainesville Police Department, which advised her to change her phone number, and the University of Florida opened—but later closed—a Title IX investigation, citing lack of evidence that the videos were filmed on campus.

The episode also references a prior incident involving Mary Kate Cornett, an Ole Miss student whose name trended nationally on X after a defamatory rumor spread through the burnerverse. The rumor was amplified by prominent figures, including Barstool Sports personalities and Pat McAfee, illustrating how unverifiable claims can escalate into mainstream attention via the network.

Victims in the episode describe limited avenues for recourse. Kowalski’s experience underscores the challenges of addressing harassment that spreads rapidly across platforms and communities, with law enforcement and universities offering minimal support in the early stages of such incidents.