A loosely connected online community of anonymous sports fans, referred to as the "burnerverse," has targeted young women by sharing nonconsensual sexually explicit images and personal information. Wired reporter Ej Dickson reported that while many anonymous sports accounts are harmless, a specific segment of the community engages in doxing—the public release of private identifying information—and harassment on platforms such as X.
The community is organized around college and university sports teams, with different "galaxies" of accounts for various institutions. Dickson stated that the participants include men in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who have long since graduated. The investigation highlighted the case of Maddie Kowalski, a University of Florida sophomore who discovered in November 2023 that intimate images of her had been leaked without her consent.
According to Dickson, the images of Kowalski initially circulated within her campus and the Florida college community before burner accounts shared them nationally. This led to widespread online harassment. Dickson noted that these activities are linked to a lack of regulation on digital platforms and the slow response of legal and educational institutions to rapid changes in online culture.
Legal recourse for victims has expanded in recent years. All 50 states have passed laws criminalizing the nonconsensual distribution of intimate images. Additionally, in 2025, the TAKE IT DOWN Act was signed into law, making it a federal crime to knowingly share or threaten to share intimate images, including deepfakes—computationally generated images that mimic a person's likeness.
The scale of the issue is difficult to quantify due to the sprawling nature of the burnerverse, but every major college or university with a big sports team has its own "burner galaxy." Under the TAKE IT DOWN Act, individuals who knowingly share these images face federal criminal charges. However, as Dickson noted, the legal process and university disciplinary actions often lag behind the speed at which content goes viral, meaning a victim might see their images reach a national audience quickly while legal proceedings take time.
For students and their families, this shift means that while legal protections exist, the digital environment is one where personal privacy can be compromised by individuals outside the immediate campus community. Victims like Kowalski have pursued legal action against those who distribute nonconsensual content using state cyberharassment statutes and federal law.