Seven members of Congress are writing to the executives of 15 video game publishers on Friday asking how they are responding to and mitigating extremist and harassing behavior in their online communities.
A draft of the letter, published Thursday evening by Axios, cites the latest “Hate and Harassment in Online Gaming” report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to express concern for lawmakers. The ADL has published a study on extremist and toxic behavior online every year since 2019. current reportpublished on December 6, says “[a]“an estimated 2.3 million teenagers have been exposed to white supremacist ideology,” in online video games spanning Fortnite, Roblox, Apex Legends, and the Madden NFL series.
“We are writing to better understand the processes you have in place to handle player reports of harassment and extremism encounters in your online games,” the seven lawmakers, all Democrats, said. “Authorities around the world like the US Department of Homeland Security and the EU’s Radicalization Awareness Network are taking notice and launching investigations into how extremists are using online gambling spaces to radicalize young people.
Axios said the letter will be sent on Friday to the management of Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Microsoft, Riot Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Square Enix, Take-Two Interactive, Tencent, Ubisoft, Valve Corp. and manufacturers. of Among us, Roblox and PUBG. Notably, Nintendo of America was not included.
The lawmakers ask the companies what data they collect “about in-game player reporting mechanisms and automatic bans for inappropriate behavior”, and whether they would consider “publishing this data in regular transparency reports”. They also asked the companies how they identify “extremist content in your games” and whether they have policies in place to address it.
Their letter is not a subpoena or subpoena to appear before a committee. But Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) told Axios that “parents like me with young children are going to pay attention to how they react.”
LDAs last report says that only Roblox Corp. “has an explicit and public policy against extremism”. As for transparency, he notes that Microsoft released last month his first report on online moderation, reported and observed behavior on Xbox Live, and actions it has taken in response.
Otherwise, “hate and extremism in online gaming have escalated” since the 2020 report, according to the ADL. “For the fourth year in a row, the already high rates of harassment experienced by a nationally representative sample of nearly 100 million American adult gamers have increased.” The 2022 report notes that it has now collected data on “bullying experienced by tweens aged 10 to 12.”
The report notes that the shooter accused in the May 14 mass murder at a Buffalo supermarket espoused white nationalist sympathies and attributed its radicalization to a gamer-made game called “Blood and Iron” on the Roblox Platform. This game, released in 2009, recreates the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century and references a speech given by Prussian President Otto von Bismarck 50 years later, calling for the unification of German states.
The report and letter also follow an article from the New York Times, published on Wednesdaywho said the man who attacked and seriously injured House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband on October 22 wrote that he was radicalized by Gamergate, the right-wing movement launched in 2014 that continues in reaction to diversity and inclusion in video and other games. pop culture media.
