Extremists using chat-and-play gaming platforms to recruit, radicalise: Study

Hindustan Times

4 days ago

New Delhi, Platforms that allow players to chat along with gaming, or gaming-adjacent platforms, present an opportunity for extremist groups to recruit and radicalise impressionable users, a study that interviewed gamers has found. Extremists using chat-and-play gaming platforms to recruit, radicalise: Study
Gaming-adjacent platforms such as 'Steam', 'Discord' and 'Twitch' allow users to chat and live stream while playing. They are also known to be relatively less regulated.
The study, published in the journal Frontiers of Psychology, said that Discord and Twitch are experiencing a steady increase in their user bases, which researchers said provides an opportunity for established extremist communities to radicalise and reach new audiences.
"These gaming-adjacent platforms offer extremists direct access to large, often young and impressionable audiences. They have become a key tool for extremist recruitment," co-author William Allchorn, senior research fellow at Anglia Ruskin University, UK, said.
The researchers said the platforms provide a "digital playground" for extremist activity, to which gamers are being deliberately "funnelled" from mainstream social media.
Challenges in moderating exchanges on these platforms could be a fuelling factor, said the team, which interviewed platform moderators, tech industry experts and people involved in preventing and countering violent extremism.
The findings also reveal that far-right extremism is the most common ideology shared on the gaming-adjacent platforms, which can involve promoting content related to neo-Nazism and anti-Semitism.
Misogyny, racism, homophobia and conspiracy theories often accompany such content, the researchers said.
"Using semi-structured interviews with 13 leading practitioners , academic and technology industry experts, and content moderation teams, the article finds that third-party policing communities are adopting increasingly sophisticated tactics to counter extremist content," they said.
"However, these efforts are increasingly undermined by the networked and adaptive nature of extremism, as well as by insufficient enforcement mechanisms at the platform level," the team wrote.
Hyper-masculine game types, including first-person shooter ones, are especially appealing to extremists, the authors said, highlighting that the unique nature of online gaming can bring together strangers with a common interest.
Once an initial contact has been established on a gaming platform, further interactions then shift to the less regulated gaming-adjacent platforms where "funnelling" takes place, they added.
The environment in the platforms enables extremists to socialise, share propaganda and subtly recruit, the team said.
"Social media platforms have attracted most of the attention of lawmakers and regulators over the last decade, but these platforms have largely flown under the radar, while at the same time becoming digital playgrounds for extremists to exploit," Allchorn said.
The co-author added that disseminating extremist content is not confined to one platform and that the team has identified a widespread lack of effective detection and reporting tools.
"Strengthening moderation systems, both AI and human, is essential, as is updating platform policies to address content that is harmful but technically lawful," Allchorn said.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.