The Anti-Defamation League, which previously sought to outlaw the OK sign and Pepe the Frog, is now setting its sights on “hate speech” in video games. The gaming community can be toxic, but ADL-level censorship is not the answer.
Issues when it comes to the gaming community are never easy to tackle. Especially when it comes to the way that people decide to speak online. It goes without saying that inhibitions are dialed down on the internet. People will often speak in a way that they never would in public, when they realize they won’t get fined, arrested, socially canceled or struck down by God if they drop a racist or homophobic slur. There were moments of playing Call of Duty 4 years ago where I’d mute every single person whenever I’d enter a match. The last thing I wanted to hear when shooting terrorists was some thirteen year old squawking like he’s Richard Spencer at Charlottesville.
Toxic community
There are absolutely reprehensible things that are said on the internet. You can browse 4chan for ten seconds to realize that. But when it comes to gaming, especially competitive match environments, trash talk is almost part of the deal. People do it, and some tend to take it too far. That’s undisputable. What’s also undisputable is that there are already methods in place to deal with it. There exist mechanisms for reporting and banning players who break community rules – which in virtually any game with a chat (voice or text) include prohibitions against racism, homophobia and other ways of inciting hatred.
Are those measures perfect? No. It goes without saying that, from the developer’s perspective, it probably feels like herding cats. But these aren’t idiots who are developing these games. They have experience and they have the agency to make their own rules for their own games and the interactions within.
