S.T.O.P. Report Shows Video Game Content Moderation Reinforces Discrimination

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View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Report Shows Video Game Content Moderation Reinforces Discrimination (New York, NY, 05/19/23) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, released Banned for Being: Moderating Online Games’ Public Sphere, detailing how video game content moderation penalizes historically marginalized players for being open about their identities and for responding to identity-related abuse. Crackdowns on user-generated content that aim to stop identity-based harassment frequently backfire, hurting the gamers they aim to help. The report recommends changes to gaming platforms’ rules of moderation to support inclusive gaming communities. SEE: Report – Banned For Being: Moderating Online Games’ Public Sphere https://www.stopspying.org/s/2023519_Banned-for-Being_Research-Report.pdf “Historically marginalized gamers get banned for being when they assert their identities and banned for responding to identity-related abuse,” said S.T.O.P. Research Director Eleni Manis. “In its current form, content moderation amounts to structural discrimination inside online games, reinforcing the perception that gaming is a straight white man’s world and pushing historically marginalized gamers out of games’ online public forums. Gaming platforms can change this by revising their rules of moderation with historically marginalized gamers’ input and interests in mind.” Key Findings Include: Identity-based harassment is extremely common on online gaming platforms; When games address identity-based abuse with content moderation, they frequently penalize historically marginalized gamers with bad calls; Gaming platforms appear to make bad calls when they fail to consider historically marginalized gamers’ comments in context and when they enforce overbroad rules against political and controversial content; Gaming platforms can begin to improve content moderation by adopting robust notice and appeals processes, as recommended by the Santa Clara principles for content moderation on social media platforms; To be truly inclusive, gaming platforms must also change the rules of moderation: any keyword bans must context into account and rules against political and controversial content must be specified to avoid forcing historically marginalized players off of platforms. SEE: Washington Post - Racism, misogyny, death threats: Why can’t the booming video-game industry curb toxicity? https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/02/26/racism-misogyny-death-threats-why-cant-booming-video-game-industry-curb-toxicity/ Wired - The Unnerving Rise of Video Games that Spy on You https://www.wired.com/story/video-games-data-privacy-artificial-intelligence/ The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color. -- END -- CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn   Copyright © 2021 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.