Expo writers Åsa Mitchell and Morgan Finnsiö have reviewed the gaming world and now warn that far-right messages are being spread on the platforms. In Nyhetsmorgon, they talk about the risks for young people of being exposed to harassment, but also about how right-wing extremists use the platforms to spread their message.
“There are a number of different ways to express right-wing extremist hate messages. It can be anything from exploiting your username to paying tribute to the holocaust to how you design your avatar or what you say in chats. It can also be about more organized forms where you openly form Nazi groups and create your own far-right principles and activities,” explains Morgan Finnsiö, researcher and writer for Expo.
“Racist, sexist, homophobic jokes are common”
Åsa Mitchell herself played at a high level where she was about to qualify for the WC, but was exposed to hatred and harassment at such an extreme level that she chose to end her playing career. She testifies herself about how the far-right propaganda blends in with comments on the gaming sites and that it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between nasty comments and propaganda. “Gaming culture is toxic. It’s normalized,” explains Mitchell in Nyhetsmorgen.
Radicalized – and are prepared to commit terrorist attacks
It is difficult to know the exact extent of right-wing extremist infiltration in the gaming world. Authorities in a number of different countries, civil society organizations and researchers have been looking at it in recent years. But according to Morgan Finnsiö, there are already several documented cases of young people who have been radicalized to the point that they are prepared to commit school attacks, or terrorist attacks against synagogues. In the long run, it becomes a public safety problem.
Although the companies have advanced moderation and invest a lot of money in it, the problem is big. According to Morgan Finnsiö, the gambling companies are not able to do anything about it.
– Even if the makers of the games do their job with the moderation, they cannot control what people do when they log out of the games and sit on other chat platforms, continues Finnsiö.
What can you do as a parent if your child is gambling and you want to prevent it from happening?
– Talk to your children, talk about the language they use and what they encounter. Support them. In some games, you can turn off text chat functions, concludes Åsa Mitchell.