Steam is 'an unsafe place for teens and young adults': US senator warns Gabe Newell of 'more intense scrutiny' from the government if Valve doesn't take action against extremist content
Less than a week after the release of an ADL report accusing Steam of "normalizing hate and extremism in the gaming community," US Senator Mark Warren has sent a letter to Valve boss Gabe Newell asking what the company is doing to combat the rise of extremist content on the platform, and warning of further «scrutiny» from the government if Valve doesn't play ball.
«It has been brought to your attention before that extremist ideologies seem to find a home on Steam,» Warner wrote in his letter (via The Verge). «In 2022, Valve received a Senate letter identifying nearly identical activity on your platform, and yet two years later it appears that Valve has chosen to continue a 'hands off'-type approach to content moderation that favors allowing some users to engage in sustained bouts of disturbing and violent rhetoric rather than ensure that all of its users can find a welcoming and safe environment across your platform.»
The 2022 Senate letter referenced by Warner, written by US Senator Maggie Hassan, said Steam has «a significant presence of users displaying and espousing neo-Nazi, extremist, racial supremacist, misogynistic, and other hateful sentiments,» and requested a detailed report on what Valve is doing about it. Warner's letter is quite similar in that regard, acknowledging that Steam does have an online conduct policy and subscriber agreement, but questioning how committed Valve is to actually enforcing it.
«As Black Friday and the holiday buying season approaches, the American public should know that not only is Steam an unsafe place for teens and young adults to purchase and play online games, but also that, absent a change in Valve's approach to user moderation and the type of behavior that it welcomes on its platform, Steam is playing a clear role in allowing harmful ideologies to spread and take root among the next generation,» Warner wrote.
Warner also warned, somewhat ominously, that if Valve does not adopt industry-standard moderation
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