ONLINE EXTREMISMHateful Usernames in Online Multiplayer Games
The online games industry continues to fall short in protecting players from hate and extremist content in games. Usernames are a basic part of any online experience. A new report focuses on hateful usernames, which should be the easiest content for companies to moderate.
ADL Center on Technology and Society (CTS) has issued a new report analyzing the policies of 12 games, as well as trust and safety priorities of the industry, and found the companies were still falling short.
The report focuses on hateful usernames, which should be the easiest content for companies to moderate.
CTS notes that usernames are a basic part of any online experience. On social media, users must choose a username for their accounts that displays whenever they post or reply to anyone. This name becomes an identifier unique to that person and represents them.
Online video games also have usernames to identify each unique player. When a player signs up to play an online multiplayer game such as Fortnite, they usually have to enter an email address, create a password, and then create a username. For the most part, players are free to create any username they can imagine unless that exact username is already taken.
These names are then displayed alongside the player in-game chats and usually above their player avatar in the game’s world.
Here are the report’s Executive Summary, Key Takaways, and Recommendations:
Executive Summary
The online games industry continues to fall short in protecting players from hate and extremist content in games. This report focuses on hateful usernames, which should be the easiest content for companies to moderate. Our findings demonstrate that many game companies are failing even the most basic moderation efforts by allowing usernames such as “HeilHitler.”
Following an inquiry from a group of US Congress Members about the proliferation of hate and extremism in online games, all the companies studied in this report provided responses about their efforts to moderate hateful content in their games. Despite game companies having policies prohibiting hate, researchers at ADL Center for Technology and Society were easily able to find usernames in five categories of hate across five popular online multiplayer games
Games function as entertainment and sources of community for millions of people. If the industry continues to deprioritize content moderation, it will send a clear message to users, especially marginalized groups, that games are not safe, welcoming spaces for all.
