Confronting The Gaming Industry’s Growing Extremism Problem
Critics say many gamers could face threats in real life.
Tenor
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Subscribe for free to get more stories like this directly to your inboxIf you’ve been paying attention over the past several years, there’s been a troubling increase in extremist actions and rhetoric from across American society. From an attempted insurrection on Capitol Hill to antisemitic rants by one of the nation’s most famous entertainers, there’s no shortage of examples to cite.
One area that might not be so immediately obvious to those of us who aren’t part of the community, however, is the realm of video gaming. Now, a group of elected officials is shedding light on an issue that they believe needs a swift and comprehensive response.
The root of the problem
A letter signed by a group of seven Democratic lawmakers this week demands information from relevant companies concerning “player reports of harassment and extremism encounters in your online games.”
As for specifics, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) referenced complaints that many users of the online game platform Steam are “displaying and espousing neo-Nazi, extremist, racial supremacist, misogynistic, and other hateful sentiment.”
The resulting harassment of marginalized communities, she argued, “allows for the very real threat of violence in offline, physical spaces.”
Calling out the culprits
In their letter, the legislators want to know what, if anything, the named companies have done to implement “safety measures pertaining to anti-harassment and anti-extremism.”
The list of companies listed in the letter is telling. It includes a number of major brands, such as Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Sony, Roblox, Riot Games, Activision Blizzard, and Steam’s parent company Valve.
One smaller company — Among Us creator Innersloth — is also mentioned by name in the letter.
Several names are missing, though, including Sega, Nintendo, Warner Bros. Interactive, Capcom, and Bandai Namco. This could indicate that these companies have not received the same number of complaints about extremism on their respective platforms.
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