Pink Power Ranger takes down white supremacist dating sites(thecanary.co)
thecanary.co
Pink Power Ranger takes down white supremacist dating sites
https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/01/04/power-ranger-deletes-dating-site/
62 comments
What's missing from the article is that this was also done live on stage at 39C3. Great energy.
Link to video? Not sure what to search for lol
https://media.ccc.de/v/39c3-the-heartbreak-machine-nazis-in-...
The 40 minutes of the presentation before the hack gives a lot more context: there are 2 journalists in addition to this anonymous pink Power Ranger, and they investigated the Nazi network, which is international. And Martha Root (the pink power ranger) was trolling them by creating an account and using LLM. The LLM didn't work properly, the account was blocked for suspicions of being a bot (and maybe for having "= 1 OR 1" as eg. gender), she talked her way out of it, and incredibly the admin that unblocked her asked if she wanted to meet up with him, and the site's founder. She said yes, didn't show up, but used that opportunity to covertly follow them and uncover the founder's identity - the journalists found that it's a 57-year old lady who's never been known in the scene, who was married to a French banker whose parents survived the holocaust, but in the last decade fell into the rabbit hole of white-victimization-theory.
The 40 minutes of the presentation before the hack gives a lot more context: there are 2 journalists in addition to this anonymous pink Power Ranger, and they investigated the Nazi network, which is international. And Martha Root (the pink power ranger) was trolling them by creating an account and using LLM. The LLM didn't work properly, the account was blocked for suspicions of being a bot (and maybe for having "= 1 OR 1" as eg. gender), she talked her way out of it, and incredibly the admin that unblocked her asked if she wanted to meet up with him, and the site's founder. She said yes, didn't show up, but used that opportunity to covertly follow them and uncover the founder's identity - the journalists found that it's a 57-year old lady who's never been known in the scene, who was married to a French banker whose parents survived the holocaust, but in the last decade fell into the rabbit hole of white-victimization-theory.
> the journalists found that it's a 57-year old lady who's never been known in the scene, who was married to a French banker whose parents survived the holocaust, but in the last decade fell into the rabbit hole of white-victimization-theory.
Just to clarify, she fell into the rabbit hole, not him. He divorced her. Your comment can easily be read both ways.
Just to clarify, she fell into the rabbit hole, not him. He divorced her. Your comment can easily be read both ways.
Thank you! I only searched on YouTube and didn’t think to search on the actual c3 website…
The English version is @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wva0cyliVk
It's also on YouTube, the first result when I search for "39c3 whitedate", but only in German there.
This is how it is done, the hacker ‘Martha Root’ dressed as the pink power ranger and hacked white supremacist dating sites, stole their data, took down their sites and then proceeded to DOX members by making a map with members locations and information around the world.
While no one likes racists:
A crime against someone you disagree with is still a crime.
A crime against someone you despise is still a crime.
A crime against someone who commits a crime is still a crime.
So good intent, very, very bad execution, IMO.
A crime against someone you disagree with is still a crime.
A crime against someone you despise is still a crime.
A crime against someone who commits a crime is still a crime.
So good intent, very, very bad execution, IMO.
Here we see an example of the law-and-order personality type, where the most important thing is to follow the law.
That is kind of the point of a law, to be impartial. Without it we might as well go back to the stone age.
"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."
Yeah and DnD has lawful evil as an alignment for a reason!
A act against someone random may be a crime.
The same against someone committing a crime, may not be a crime.
Well, in your own personal version of justice
law in my country
What country?
In the UK Vigilante justice is punished extremely hard.
If you commit a crime in the commission of preventing crime you will go to jail. There's a couple of things that are permitted and they're outlined as "detainment without excessive force" - for citizens arrest, and then it's only for the duration until a relevant authority can be called... with a maximum term of time that authority must be called.. It's extremely limited.
And one of the offences specifically not permissible for citizens arrest is inciting racial hatred.
https://www.westminstersecurity.co.uk/news/citizens-arrest-u...
In the UK Vigilante justice is punished extremely hard.
If you commit a crime in the commission of preventing crime you will go to jail. There's a couple of things that are permitted and they're outlined as "detainment without excessive force" - for citizens arrest, and then it's only for the duration until a relevant authority can be called... with a maximum term of time that authority must be called.. It's extremely limited.
And one of the offences specifically not permissible for citizens arrest is inciting racial hatred.
https://www.westminstersecurity.co.uk/news/citizens-arrest-u...
Germany
So, self-defence laws in Germany apply to property also.
But it seems like they're also very restrictive on what you're permitted to do. Hacking has no justification in law.
in 2021 there was new laws added to help security researchers, but that goes out of the window as soon as you release private information (which has no justification in German law and may get you 2 years of prison time).
So, at least in the context of this thread; committing a crime in the comission of stopping a crime is not legal.
Or were you referencing something else?
But it seems like they're also very restrictive on what you're permitted to do. Hacking has no justification in law.
in 2021 there was new laws added to help security researchers, but that goes out of the window as soon as you release private information (which has no justification in German law and may get you 2 years of prison time).
So, at least in the context of this thread; committing a crime in the comission of stopping a crime is not legal.
Or were you referencing something else?
You do understand that if their side does the same, you won't have any kind of moral high ground to stand on because you have already condoned stooping to their level?
"Their side" absolutely does this continuously, and is one of the reasons early facebook allowed people to use pseudonyms etc.
Only one side of the political spectrum routinely resorts to malicious/vexatious behaviour as their modus operandi.
Only one side of the political spectrum routinely resorts to malicious/vexatious behaviour as their modus operandi.
I think the side that isn’t full of white supremacists would have the moral high ground by default.
I'm not sure how much that would mean swinging from the rafters of [insert intolerant country]. The white supremacists will maybe lose their jobs or reputation, but the consequences could be much more dire in retaliation.
something something, "If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them," something something
Wow, this comment was so hard to read with the something something which made me think it was condescending
From what I can tell your comment about: You are talking about paradox of tolerance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance)
From what I can tell your comment about: You are talking about paradox of tolerance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance)
That's correct. They are talking about the paradox of tolerance.
> won't have any kind of moral high ground
You're exaggerating. Yes, it gives up the "doxxing not OK", but there will often remain a large moral difference between "Alice was accurately doxxed as KKK/Nazi" versus "Bob was accurately doxxed as $X."
There are very few $X which are both worse, plausible, and "the other side."
We also need to ask who is going to care or be convinced. Orwell's The Party does not care about ethical or moral consistency, only power.
You're exaggerating. Yes, it gives up the "doxxing not OK", but there will often remain a large moral difference between "Alice was accurately doxxed as KKK/Nazi" versus "Bob was accurately doxxed as $X."
There are very few $X which are both worse, plausible, and "the other side."
We also need to ask who is going to care or be convinced. Orwell's The Party does not care about ethical or moral consistency, only power.
right, because being a anti-white supremacists is the same as being a white supremacist....
When Batman corners the Joker it's good. When the Joker corners Batman it's bad.
Define doing the same?
Exposing racism? Where is the moral problem?
This isn’t exposing people for being white but for being supremacists.
If they also expose something of the same kund of wrong I see no problem, everything I wouldn’t call doing the same.
That’s like comparing police arresting people with criminals kidnapping people, both do kind of the same: imprison people.
Exposing racism? Where is the moral problem?
This isn’t exposing people for being white but for being supremacists.
If they also expose something of the same kund of wrong I see no problem, everything I wouldn’t call doing the same.
That’s like comparing police arresting people with criminals kidnapping people, both do kind of the same: imprison people.
Weird moral equivocation. Nazis declare themselves enemies of mankind. They otherise themselves with their beliefs. It should be legal to stone them in the streets as non humans.
If "Their Side" did the same to innocent people who hadn't declared they are everyone's enemies its a completely different scenario.
If "Their Side" did the same to innocent people who hadn't declared they are everyone's enemies its a completely different scenario.
What do you mean "if"? I've had multiple friends driven off the internet by right-wing doxxers.
How dare the US government, which executes people, tell me that I don't get to murder at will? Where is their moral high ground? /s
Good choice, as the White Power Ranger has been a less-than-subtle character used by Nazis on Elon's X.
Somehow I'm not holding my breath for this gal to be prosecuted under the CFAA. And then people wonder why the global right is rejecting the idea of the rule of law...
The implication that the "global right" has ever had any respect for the rule of law is incorrect.
> Somehow I'm not holding my breath for this gal to be prosecuted under the CFAA.
Considering that she, the act, and the targeted site are in Germany, that's a fair bet.
> And then people wonder why the global right is rejecting the idea of the rule of law...
Ah, you did the cartoon. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/8/1786532/-Cartoon-Y...
Considering that she, the act, and the targeted site are in Germany, that's a fair bet.
> And then people wonder why the global right is rejecting the idea of the rule of law...
Ah, you did the cartoon. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/8/1786532/-Cartoon-Y...