How Valve is ignoring the rise of extremism on Steam
Growing fears about online communities and rampant extremism often take advantage of the slack content moderation policy on Steam. Is the online platform a haven for far-right groups, is the overall culture to blame, or is it simply an issue of gaming humor being edgy and offensive?
Steam: a haven for far-right extremists?
Launched more than 20 years ago, Steam started small, as a way for Valve Corporation to sell their games online, but it would soon become one of the most used gaming platforms in the world. As of 2023, it featured a total of 33 million concurrent users, with an annual revenue of almost 9 billion dollars.
Steam seems to be the platform of choice for far-right extremists to thrive, finding like-minded individuals and sharing content that they would be prohibited from doing on other platforms. Naturally, this is no coincidence, as Valve’s platform features an obscure and slack content moderation policy, even compared to other platforms that share (or at least shared, until recent years) the same problems, such as Twitch and Discord.
Image via Steam
Going through the content guidelines of Steam, the word “extremism” is not mentioned. Nor are there any measures highlighted throughout which the moderators can ban or block content in games that support and propagate far-right content. Also, the burden of reporting, as mentioned in the content guidelines, falls on the users, rather than on moderators or filters.
It is interesting to note that, despite this laissez-faire approach to moderation, in 2018 Steam removed almost 200 games. The removal of titles like Ethnic Cleansing and Jesus Strikes Back: Judgement Day was often criticized by users. While creators defended their games as "satire", users often commented how Steam would ban these, while still keeping “Japanese porn games” on the platform.
Image via Steam
Curiously enough, despite these measures, Valve clarified that its removal of games and content was not because of xenophobic or misogynistic behaviors, but rather because these games were posing “unknown costs and risks to Valve, developer partners and customers”. Valve concluded that these developers and studios “were not producing games in good faith”.
Steam and the flood of extremist content
How widespread is the problem with extremism and far-right groups? Recent research by the Anti-Defamation League found 1.5 million unique Steam users and 73,824 groups that used at least one potentially extremist or hateful symbol, copypasta, or keyword on the platform. The problem is not even limited to amateur games or small indie titles.
Image via Paradox Interactive
Mods are often a way to attract far-right and extremist individuals. By modifying the content of a game, especially those easy to mod such as Hearts of Iron IV and Crusader Kings, players can access tailor-made content to be consumed by extremists. Using mods this type of propaganda can get around the amateur look and hardship of producing new games, presenting a façade of technical competence and professional development.
But, generally, these extremist communities seem content in gathering around famous games such as Counter-Strike or DayZ , where users were found to be organizing a “right-wing death squad” or getting together to kill black characters in Grand Theft Auto Online . Thus, it seems many are playing games to project an identity of extreme-right, rather than using these games as a way to recruit new members.
Image via Rockstar Games
While one might think the sharing of content online would stop at a virtual level, a 2021 paper authored for the European Commission by Suraj Lakhani from CIVIPOL, underlines how communities expressing support for non-violent forms of far-right extremism “are interlinked with those affiliated with paramilitary activity and forms of white supremacist activity”.
Still today, there are several Steam groups related to far-right organizations still active and propagating sensitive and extremist material. These groups have links to movements such as the Nordic Resistance Movement, a group with links to bombings in Gothenburg in 2016 and 2017.
The paper reports how thousands of Steam users have demonstrated far-right violent extremist support on their profile pages, with clear pro-Nazi references, which “incorporated into their profiles Nazi imagery such as SS bolts and Nazitotenkopfs, or death’s heads, glorified prominent Nazi figures or fantasized about the 4th Reich”.
Image via Steam
Not only that but many referenced serial killers or glorified figures such as mass murderer Anders Brevik. There were also references and links to videos on anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and White supremacist narratives. Terrorism is also another topic that seems to pop up again and again, with profiles and images dedicated to ISIS and Hezbollah, among others.
As for its conclusions, the author calls for Steam, but also companies such as Twitch and Discord, to update their moderation policies to include terms such as “extremism” and “terrorism.” Plus, the author calls for widespread research that would need access to data provided by companies that are becoming more and more reluctant to do so, such as X.
A new shared moderation policy is the key?
In a paper from July 2024, Shiraz Shaikh from the Global Network on Extremism and Technology identifies several key features that Steam should work on. A shared moderation policy with Twitch or Discord would be key in limiting how many users seem to be present on several platforms with multiple “burner” accounts. Plus, Steam could work with established organizations studying online hate and harassment on gaming platforms.
Last November, following ADL's report, US Senator Mark Warner issued a letter to Steam asking what the company was doing about the widespread use of text-based images depicting hate and about its content moderation policy. Despite a deadline to answer before December 13, Steam doesn't seem to have responded and it is doubtful that the Trump administration will be interested in pursuing this matter further.
Image via US Senate
Still, not everybody agrees on the definition of Steam as a haven for extremists, some call ADL's attack on Steam "misguided" and see the danger of leaving moderation in the hands of a company that has no experience in the gaming community and doesn't understand edgy gamer humor. In particular, the use of the Pepe the Frog meme has been called into question since even the original author doesn't want to be linked to any far-right groups or extremists.
Despite one's view on the matter, it is hard to deny the growing issue of online extremism, especially linked to gaming. While it might be impossible to force Valve to modify its content moderation policy, it is possible to act at a gaming industry level. Developers should be encouraged to spend more time moderating and curating their audience, especially if they care about the image they are projecting to the audience. Letting extremist groups run rampant in the fanbase is not only damaging to one’s company and products but can also lead to future legal problems.
In the '90s, games such as Doom and Mortal Kombat basically created the need for rating agencies overnight and were, probably, first responsible for classic edgy gamer humor. Still, today the problem with content moderation is far more complex and difficult to control. How far should freedom of expression be pushed when tolerance itself is being threatened? How much tolerance should be extended to people who are often intolerant in the first place?
The post How Valve is ignoring the rise of extremism on Steam appeared first on Destructoid .
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