US Congress "disappointed" with companies' response to extremism concerns
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The US Congresswoman leading efforts to learn more about how the games industry is dealing with the rise of extremism in online multiplayer games has expressed frustration at the response from leading publishers and platform holders.
Representatives Lori Trahan told Axios that of the 14 companies who responded to her questionnaire – which include Microsoft, Sony, Tencent, Epic Games, EA and Activision – only five detailed what they're doing to assess and tackle extremism in their games.
"I'm disappointed that the majority of companies failed to address some of our most urgent questions, including providing us with their policies around extremism, as well as transparency reporting around these topics," said Trahan in a statement.
Roblox was one notable exception, saying that it has a team dedicated to reviewing links to terrorism or extremism that occur on its platform. The company has been criticised in the past for enabling players to recreate real-world mass shootings in its game.
Congress' request for information on how the industry handles these incidents follows last year's report by the Anti-Defamation League, which showed spikes in white supremacist ideology and identity-based harassment.
20% of adult respondents said they were exposed to the former in online games, up from 8% in 2021. An additional 15% of gamers aged 10 to 17 said they encountered white supremacy online.
Among the titles most likely to expose players to white supremacist extremism were:
Entertainment Software Association spokesperson Aubrey Quinn responded: "The industry takes this issue very seriously and it's frustrating to hear it's not seen that way."
The ESA
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