A recent study has found that video games such as Call of Duty, Minecraft and many more, have been co-opted by groups sharing extremist ideology.

According to the BBC, researchers found anti-Semitism, racism and homophobia on streaming sites such as DLive and Odysee, where users streamed and discussed video games such as Call of Duty and Minecraft. This despite each service possessing zero tolerance policies against hate and violent extremism, with both claiming to be proactive at removing any content violating guidelines. The study found that oftentimes these discussions would move from the sites to secure messaging services such as Telegram.

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Researchers also found extremist "roleplay" scenarios within games that allow players create and share custom maps. For example, Nazi concentration camps and a Uyghur detainment camp scenarios were found in video games such as Roblox and Minecraft. The researchers suggested that the increase in extremist activity in video games may have come as a response to increased enforcement of certain rules on major social media platforms.

Jacob Davey, Head of Research and Policy of Far-right and Hate Movements at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue, said, "These are small and not played by a huge amount of people but what they do is allow extremists to create role-playing experiences... to live out radicalised fantasies online." He went on to add, "The extreme right-wing have potentially found safe harbours to broadcast their ideology or to engage in more traditional propagandising - the sorts of things that they would have done a few years ago on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter." He later warned, "It's a way for them to connect with like-minded individuals, to socialise and ultimately form firmer social bonds, which can be really important in terms of advancing and furthering extremist movements globally."

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Joe Mulhall, from the anti-fascist organisation Hope Not Hate, explained the dangers of allowing extremist ideology and behavior to fester in these video games. "Once you're in that world, then the radicalisation starts to happen... That's when you start to go to other meetings, to smaller groups that aren't necessarily playing games, talking about politics more explicitly."

While the study was conducted over the course of three months, this is not a new issue by any means. In 2019, Roblox came under fire after it was found to have allowed over 100 accounts linked to extremist right-wing profiles to remain. While the accounts were removed soon after reports came out, Professor Jason Blazakis from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies said at the time, "Sadly, it is like a game of whack-a-mole and they must rely on the due diligence of the gamers to flag problematic material, users, and groups."

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Source: BBC