Ten years ago, an online harassment campaign against three female video game professionals was dubbed Gamergate. It said it had “formalized online harassment strategies used by hate groups and the far right.” wired Said.
Recently, a similar campaign against a narrative design company called Sweet Baby, Inc. (SBI) has led some to call this Gamergate 2.0 “an evocation of the online harassment campaigns that have erupted into culture wars.” There are some similarities between coordinated attacks, such as attacks “primarily targeting women and people of color,” based on the idea that video game culture belongs only to cis white men and is being stolen from them. There is.
A recently released report says the firestorm facing Sweet Baby and its defenders is part of a larger issue that has drawn the attention of the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). government report. Taken together, these events convey a growing problem of extremism in the video game industry.
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How Sweet Baby Inc. became enemy number one
According to Wired, the backlash against the Montreal-based narrative development and consulting firm began around the release of the Spider-Man 2 and Alan Wake II games in the fall of 2023. Sweet Baby's social media comment sections were flooded with hateful comments, with many, including CEO Kim Bellaire, blaming the company for the “wokeness” of video games. He told Wired that he promoted the idea that he was owed money. In the weeks that followed, the abuse increased as conspiracy theories about Sweet Baby's involvement with investment firm BlackRock spread. “People want to believe that our work is removing them surgically,” Bellaire said. “That's not reality.”
In reality, the company functioned like a Hollywood script doctor, with “no real say in what went into the final game.” pc gamer Said. Still, the group “''Discover Sweet Baby Co., Ltd.“Nevertheless, we led charges against the company for promoting a 'woke' agenda of diversity, equity, and inclusion in video games. The group was formed on Steam, a digital distribution platform for PC games, in late January 2024, and has since gained over 100,000 members.They highlight games that Sweet Baby appears to have consulted with. Discourage members from playing the game.
Kotaku Senior editor Alyssa Mercante infiltrated the group's Discord and spoke with several members, who said they believed in “an ideological worldview that seems to be entrenched throughout the Western world, media, and gaming.” He said he was concerned about racial and identity group assignments. ” After her report was published, Ms. Mercante became the target of online harassment.
Some believe it is no coincidence that the campaign gained momentum during an already contentious election year. Large-scale organized harassment campaigns like Gamergate 2.0 “promote and are fueled by political events,” mental health nonprofit Take This said in an article. statement. Rachel Cowart, the group's director of research and an expert on video game extremism and radicalization, said she expected this type of online activity to increase as “political rhetoric intensifies” ahead of the presidential election. “It is important to understand that these acts occur,” he said. The phenomena are interrelated. ”
Government is tracking extremism in the gaming world
The presence of extremists is increasing steam and discord It has been well documented over the past few years and has even caught the attention of the US government. In a recent report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are working with social media and gaming companies to “eradicate so-called domestic violent extremist content.” revealed. intercept Said.
GAO said that while both agencies have tools to exchange information about potential threats related to domestic terrorism, neither the FBI nor DHS has “developed strategies or goals related to such information-sharing efforts.” “I haven't done it,” he pointed out. This report is based on interviews with Roblox, Discord, Reddit, and game publishers and social media companies who requested anonymity. GAO said the DHS Intelligence Office meets regularly with companies to discuss potential online activity that promotes domestic violent extremism or other activities that violate the companies' terms of service. The FBI has also received information from gaming companies regarding content with extremist views that warrants further investigation, and the FBI has also conducted briefings with gaming companies regarding the alleged threats.
GAO says that despite sharing information, without a clear strategy or goal, agencies can “understand how effective their communications with businesses are or whether their information-sharing mechanisms are consistent with the agency's overall They may not be fully aware of how effectively they are contributing to the mission.”
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