There鈥檚 a persistent myth about video games 鈥� that they鈥檙e harmful and cause violent behaviour.

That鈥檚 wrong, says Sarah Stang.

鈥淕ame content does not cause real-world violence,鈥� says Stang, an assistant professor of game studies at Brock University.

鈥淲e have so many studies that have that no matter how many violent video games you play, that does not mean you鈥檙e going to be a violent person.鈥�

But toxicity and harassment persist in what Stang calls the 鈥渨orld鈥檚 biggest entertainment medium鈥� which, by some estimates, brings in four times the global box office revenue of the film industry.

The problem made news a decade ago in Gamergate 鈥� an online furor in which women and companies were targeted for supporting progressive ideals, like having more women represented in gaming鈥檚 traditionally male-dominated world.

Women reported threats of rape and death. Some were doxxed 鈥� having one鈥檚 identifying information, including home address, published with malicious intent.

There鈥檚 a continuum of toxicity in online communities, says MiaConsalvo of Concordia University in Montreal, the Canada Research Chair in digital games studies and design.

鈥淚t can be from the more banal and harmless, the trash talking, all the way up to threats of violence,鈥� she says.

The internet is where a large number of people go to hang out. 鈥淕ames are a huge part of that ecosystem,鈥� says Consalvo.

Government attention

Online toxicity is something society is worried about but not necessarily governments, Consalvo says.

It鈥檚 only when there are concerns about democracy or threats against people or government institutions that things become more serious, she says.

The Canadian government announced funding in March to study the 鈥減otential for radicalization to violence across gaming platforms.鈥� More than $317,000 is to go to the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, a think tank based in the United Kingdom.

The Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence, which falls under the federal Public Safety Department, provided the funding.

Brett Kubicek, research manager with the centre, says it was created in 2017 to lead Ottawa鈥檚 efforts on preventing and countering violent extremism.

Much of the government鈥檚 concern about the risk for radicalization through video games relates to what are called gaming-adjacent platforms, such as the messaging app Discord, the streaming platform Twitch and the digital distribution service Steam.

鈥淎 lot of this is about just going where people are,鈥� Kubicek says.

Canada can鈥檛 do it alone, adds the centre鈥檚 executive director, Robert Burley.

鈥淲e need to collaborate with other governments,鈥� he says, pointing to a summit held after the 2019 mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, as an example.

鈥淚t鈥檚 part of our engagement with the Christchurch Call to Action, with our allies in the G7 and the Five Eyes countries that we look not just at Canadian projects but projects internationally that are going to help advance this field.鈥�

Some experts suggest the Canadian government鈥檚 funding announcement is just playing catch-up.

鈥淪eems a little bit late,鈥� says Jennifer Jenson, a professor of digital languages, literacies and cultures at the University of British Columbia.

鈥淭he week of Gamergate, you would have thought that there would have been something that actually came out.鈥�

The project is not one of the Canada Centre鈥檚 bigger ones, Burley says, and it may lead to more.

Corporate measures

Games and gaming-adjacent platforms have content guidelines and measures in place to protect users, but rules can be bent or sidestepped. As technology has evolved, so have tactics used by hate groups and people looking to block them out.

Doxxing gained a lot of attention with Gamergate, Consalvo says, but many people have become more savvy about their internet use and may be less willing to share personal details.

With the increasing sophistication of content moderation systems, especially with artificial intelligence tools, some platforms have become less hospitable to hate groups. That鈥檚 led them to congregate in lesser-known but less restricted spaces.

Reddit, one of the most popular forums on the internet, employs what it calls a layered approach to content moderation.

A Reddit spokesperson says the platform uses automated tools, user reports and internal escalation processes to flag anything that violates its content policies.

For photos and videos, internal 鈥渉ashing鈥� technology creates a unique digital fingerprint, or hash, to prevent offending content from being shared again.

A spokesperson for Roblox pointed to blog posts from the company in early April about the importance of civility.

鈥淢any of our safety features and tools are based on innovative AI solutions that run alongside an expert team of thousands who are dedicated to safety,鈥� says a post from Roblox鈥檚 chief safety officer, Matt Kaufman.

The number of safety staff is tiny compared to the 71.5 million daily active users that Roblox says it had in the last three months of 2023.

Fortnite, the online game best known for its battle royale mode, introduced in late April an option for players to turn off their ability to see four emotes, or character actions, commonly considered toxic, including 鈥淭ake the L,鈥� or take the loss.

Solutions and responsibility

Kris Alexander, an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University who teaches video game design, espouses what he calls 鈥減ixels with purpose.鈥�

鈥淵ou can be the change,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou can counteract all this hate speech.鈥�

Some responsibility also lies with parents, he says.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like you have a McDonald鈥檚 that鈥檚 open. These kids just keep coming. They keep taking their parents鈥� credit card and just keep eating McDonald鈥檚. We should close down all McDonald鈥檚?鈥�

Stang, the Brock University professor, says violence and hate are more about culture than they are about the medium.

Parents need to be aware of what their children are doing, what communities they鈥檙e part of, what they鈥檙e joining and who they鈥檙e talking to, she says.

When discussing online harassment, Alexander added, it鈥檚 important to ask which games and genres are affected, as well as which groups.

鈥淵ou talk to any player of 鈥楽tardew Valley鈥� 鈥� talk to any 鈥楢nimal Crossing鈥� player. They鈥檒l be like, 鈥榃hat are you talking about? We鈥檙e building farms out here. We鈥檙e grabbing fruits and spoiled turnips.鈥欌��

Stang says there have been improvements over the past decade.

鈥淚 teach in a game design program at Brock University and I can see the incoming cohorts are very 鈥榳oke,鈥欌�� she says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e attuned to questions of diversity and inclusivity and equity. They鈥檙e primed for discussions about representation.鈥�

She says they want to change the industry for the better because they love the medium.

鈥淚 think things are getting better,鈥� says Stang. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just very slow.鈥�

Curtis Ng, The Canadian Press