Gamer Wearing Headphones and Playing Online Game

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In an international action, Europol has taken down thousands of links on gaming platforms, many used by younger players, for racist and xenophobic content.

In an action on November 13, the European Union Internet Referral Unit removed 5,408 links to jihadist content, 1,070 links to violent right-wing extremist and terrorist content and 105 links to racist and xenophobic content.

The Referral Action Day involved authorities in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the U.K., all of which had reported the misuse of a variety of gaming and gaming-adjacent platforms to radicalize other users and spread terrorist content online.

Some of these platforms allow players to broadcast their gameplay in real-time and interact with their community via live chat, while others host video-on-demand. Illicit content was also identified on community platforms for sharing tips, news, and discussions about video games, along with hybrid or specialized platforms combining streaming, community features and gaming purchase options.

“Many accounts on these platforms may not immediately be recognizable as being linked to problematic content, while some even feature usernames and profile pictures with references to infamous terrorists,” Europol warned.

There was a wide variety of dangerous and violent content too. Some involved the re-enactment of terrorist attacks, school shootings or execution scenes in 3D gameplay, with the videos edited to include chants or suggestive emojis. These videos were then spread on various widely-used social media platforms for an even broader reach.

In other cases, gaming-related platforms intended for streaming gameplay were being misused to recruit minors into various violent extremist and terrorist groups or to livestream real attacks and even suicides.

“This joint action highlights the complexity of tackling terrorist, racist and xenophobic content online on gaming and gaming-adjacent platforms,” said Europol.

“Creation and dissemination processes are layered and often affect several platforms. For instance, content may be recorded within an online game (or its chat function), altered with violent extremist jargon, suggestive emojis, chants, or music, and then disseminated on a mainstream social media platform.”

The action follows a report from the EU’s Radicalization Awareness Network which found that both video games and gaming platforms are increasingly being used to propagate extremist ideology and disseminate propaganda, particularly by right-wing extremist actors.

The report also highlighted the risk of grooming on gaming platforms and chats, with bad actors steering conversations towards a sense of grievance and feelings of anger.

“Extremist actors may also appeal to a gamer’s feelings of loneliness, insecurities and other potential risk factors they
uncover while playing video games with them,” the researchers warned.

“Such grooming activities could take place via in-game chats, but also on Discord servers, through voice communication during video game play, or on livestreaming platforms such as Twitch.”

And in its Comprehensive Update on Terrorist Financing Risks report earlier this year, the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force found that online video games and gaming platforms were increasingly also being used by terrorists and extremists to recruit members and raise funds. This activity frequently involved lone individuals, often younger in age, it said.