Extremism in Gaming

Social

Recent information has come to light that multiple government agencies are “to monitor extremism and terrorism recruitment through gaming communities” and “fighting for just equitable online spaces.” They are government agencies and officials with frightening names, like The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), The Minister of Public Safety of Canada, and The Institute of Strategic Dialogue in Britain, with connections to and working with groups like The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) and The Extremism and Research Gaming Network (EGRN).

Examples of extremism: violence, threats of violence, radicalization, shredding down a mountain, rebellion, racism, anarchy, ideological organizations, oppression, politics, criminality, Antifa, war, burning flags, tearing down statues.

MadamSavvy on X (Twitter) has done excellent research into this and continues to do so. Follow her for more information developing on this topic.

I've put together a 3:30min video summarizing the current @SweetBabyInc debacle. I've connected government funding, the ADL, election monitors, and even social media companies to this network that aims to "monitor" "extremism" and create just, equitable spaces online.

Threads… pic.twitter.com/vWMiZMcT8o

— Savvy | Artist (@MadamSavvy) March 17, 2024

This would make sense if they were to look into the extremist ecosystem of corrupt and ideological journalists, consultants, and game developers. You know, the same people who knowingly lie and gaslight the unknowing; the same people who use threats to insert their extreme ideology into video games; the same people who have called in numerous bomb threats to gaming events, have doxxed multiple people, and even harassed people to the point of no return. Nope. Actually, they’re working with them – or, more specifically, they’re providing funding for extreme groups like this to monitor extremism in gaming communities because that’s the only objective extremism anywhere near gaming. Oh, the irony.

I just can’t. The next thing you know, they’re gonna start monitoring Christian communities. Oh, yeah, they already do that. 

How does one who sits in front of a screen for hours and hours on end, dissipating themselves into unseen worlds and experiences, represent an advocacy for extremism? Extreme aptitude for focusing on one subject for long periods of time? Extreme hand-eye coordination? Extreme consumption of caffeine? 

While researching this topic, I (still) haven’t been able to find any concrete examples of extremist gamers or extremism in gaming. The only notion of this I see is radicalization, or, more specifically, using gaming platforms to recruit individuals into already established extremist groups. Unfortunately, neither of these are exclusive. This can happen anywhere. When I hear the words “extremism” and “gaming,” I don’t think of gamers who actually play and love video games. I think of those who claim to be gamers who work in the industry and who despise their customers.

After everything that was and continues to be considered GamerGate, the ones who just want to play video games and be left alone are the extremists? Not the ones who race and gender swap beloved characters of established lore for the sake of diversity, equity, and inclusion? The ones who have a history of highly coordinated media attacks against the consumers of the industry they work in? The ones who have harassed employers to the point of firing people for “wrong think”? The ones who still haven’t taken any accountability or responsibility for GamerGate?

I should probably give my definition of GamerGate. GamerGate wasn’t gamers harassing anyone. It wasn’t gamers waging war on journalists. It was gamers defending their own culture. It was gamers calling out bullshit very loudly. GamerGate was and still is the total sum of all of the horrendous efforts put forth by a subculture of extremely ideological individuals (mainly journalists) who work in the gaming industry, vindictive efforts (some of which I’ve already mentioned) that caused massive destruction throughout numerous avenues of society. It’s like the journalists changed the source code in a game and were caught red-handed. And instead of admitting what they did, they doubled down and continued to change the source code to cover their tracks. Ten years later, they’re still at it, because they never stopped. They’ll never admit they’re wrong and that they lost.

Airplay (a.m.) is a great documentary about GamerGate:

So, who or where is this extremism in gaming to be monitored? Where are the groups that have publicly taken credit for any kind of attack? Where are the manifestos or targets for said extremism? Where is there any proof of any type of extremism in gaming? Remember when Governor Whitmer was “kidnapped” by an extreme group of Trump supporters? The same group that had more FBI employees than not? Pretty extreme… for the FBI to plot such an event. So, don’t be surprised if these government agencies start embedding agents into gaming communities, trying to radicalize gamers to make their entire culture look bad. Don’t be surprised if they activate a false flag. These agencies have a history of creating the problem so that they can insert the solution – most likely a solution that would regulate gaming in some way and take away more of our rights.

Why aren’t they monitoring actual extremists? I would normally just assume they do, but the fact that they consider gamers an extreme community that needs investigating tells me they have different requisites for acquiring targets. 

The (actual) gaming extremists, the GamerGaters, the ones who wield endless aggression without remorse, are never going to stop attacking. Eventually, they will go into hiding and regroup. But don’t get it twisted; they’re never going to admit defeat. They will never run out of excuses or creativity for their narrative. They will move to a different company, rebrand, and come back exactly the same. As long as they have a voice, this is never going to end. They will continue with this insanity for the sake of revenge, and even then, they’ll never be satisfied. 

I wish I had additional information to make more sense out of all of this. The only thing I can come up with (at this moment) is that these government agencies see an opportunity to take advantage of, or they see a threat in, the gaming community, a threat that they can manufacture, leading to more control (oppression). Unfortunately, this is most likely just the beginning of something this community doesn’t deserve, which means staying up to date will be crucial. I think the best thing we can do is raise awareness. We all have a voice, and the louder that voice is, the better our chances are of reaching more people. The more who know what’s going on, the harder it will be for them to continue with their insanity.

Talk about it, tweet, retweet, fire off the meme cannons, make videos, write articles, share posts with friends, support your people, and most importantly… don’t harass anyone, stay positive, and hold the line.