In recent years, particularly since the 2019 livestreamed attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, video games, gamer communities, and online plattforms made for gaming and related activities, have moved to the center of attention of policy, practice, and academia working on preventing and countering (violent) extremism (P/CVE). The EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator recently warned of the potential digital gaming environments hold in supporting various terrorist and extremist activities, including the radicalisation of young people.
The Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) has classified gaming (adjacent) platforms as ‘hotbeds’ for radicalisation. Similarly, the 2021 EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT) details that both video games and gaming platforms are increasingly used to propagate extremist ideology and disseminate propaganda, especially by right-wing extremist actors.
TE-SAT also warns that the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent increase in screentime contributed to a rise in opportunities for extremist actors to make contact with young people through gaming (adjacent) platforms. It is believed that extremist actors seek to “capitalise on the massive, youthful audience and the gaming world’s deep integration within pop culture.” Read more