NeoGAF is back online, with its owner Tyler ‘Evilore’ Malka claiming that the sexual assault allegationsmade against hime are unfounded.

The forum went offline this weekend, with a large number of the moderation team jumping ship. Now Malka claims that the site was down for ‘maintenance’, and that political discourse is banned from this point on.

“An allegation of sexual misconduct has been made against me by an ex. It's not true, the individual making the accusation isn't credible, the story doesn't reconcile logically with the facts, and there's plenty of evidence and witnesses to corroborate that. It'll be a process,” Malka said. “All allegations of this nature are serious, of course.

Malka claims that he had been preparing to make a statement on Friday, when the now deleted original Facebook comment that led to this storm had made its way onto the forum. However, the ferocity of the online eruption – and his failure to respond in good time – led to mass resignations of staff.

Malka has also taken the time to criticise the press, saying “everything coming out was proving to be sensationalized, opportunist, and unprofessional”, and bemoans the current political landscape, adding: “Discussions on heated news, political issues, and social issues on the off-topic side of the site have become areas no one has wanted to moderate in the open for fear of backlash or just general exposure to the inevitable toxicity.”

Whether Malka’s comments can do anything to salvage the forum remains to be seen. The obvious fear is that it could become a haven for video games’ alt-right, who by nature oppose the current backlash against the sexual exploitation of women.

As of this morning, there’s an element of business-as-usual about things on the site, although what mods remain are having to work overtime to keep on top of the assorted protest threads and the much being hurled at Malka. That the site’s new ban on political discourse is seeing posts defending equality for women and minorities being censored is certainly not going down well, nor is the fact that some comments championing this silencing are not.

Certainly, parts of the board’s previous userbase are already looking to establish a new rival. Some former mods yesterday announced ResetEra. That’s just one of many new boards to have cropped up in the wake of NeoGAF’s meltdown, however.