November 15th 2024.
Valve's highly successful digital storefront, Steam, has recently come under scrutiny for allegedly allowing extremist content to thrive on its platform. This accusation comes after Valve faced a lawsuit earlier this year for overcharging players. The Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to fighting discrimination, conducted an extensive investigation into Steam and found evidence of hateful and extremist content.
According to the ADL's report, they analyzed over 458 million user profiles, 152 million avatars, and 610 million comments on user profiles and groups. They discovered 1.83 million pieces of hateful content and identified over 1.5 million users and 73,824 groups that used extremist symbols, keywords, and copy-pastes on the platform. This content included antisemitic symbols, Nazi imagery, and even expressions of support for terrorist organizations like ISIS.
The investigation also found that over 1.18 million instances of potentially extremist and hateful copy-pastes were present on Steam. These are blocks of text that are copied and pasted onto the internet, often used in viral memes. The most popular copy-paste was variations of the swastika. Furthermore, 827,758 user and group profiles were found to have avatars containing extremist or hateful symbols, such as white supremacist skull masks and variations of the Pepe the frog meme.
While Steam does have policies in place to prohibit hate speech and discrimination, the ADL criticized Valve's moderation efforts, stating that it is relatively easy to find extremist content on the platform. They also noted that while some extremist content has been removed in the past, it has been done sporadically and without a systematic approach. The ADL is calling for Valve to take a more active role in enforcing policies against extremism on Steam.
Valve, on the other hand, has not yet responded to these allegations. However, earlier this year, they were also accused of exploiting children and failing to stop illegal content from circulating on their platform, which they denied. Despite these controversies, Valve continues to be a major player in the gaming industry, with popular titles like Half-Life: Alyx under their belt.
Inbox letters and Reader's Features can be submitted through email, Twitter, or by using the Submit Stuff page on the website. GameCentral has reached out to Valve for comment but has not yet received a response. In the meantime, players can still enjoy their favorite games on Steam, but this investigation serves as a reminder to be mindful of the content we consume and support.
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