Valve accused of “allowing the proliferation of hate” on Steam

The Anti-Defamation League has accused Valve of “allowing the proliferation of hate” on its digital platform and storefront, Steam.

Analysing data on an “unprecedented, platform-wide scale”, the ADL’s Center on Extremism said that of the 458+ million profiles, 152+ million profile and group avatar images, and 610+ million comments on user profiles and groups, it found “millions of examples of extremist and hateful content, including explicit hate symbols.”

As reported by Eurogamer, in all, the analysis located 1.8m “unique pieces” of extremist or hateful content, with 1.5m million unique users – and over 70,000 groups – that used “at least one potentially extremist or hateful symbol, copypasta or keyword on the platform.”

Furthermore, 820,000+ avatars were identified as having extremist or hateful symbols, including swastikas and hateful reimaginings of the “Pepe” meme. The report suggests that “these numbers are likely to be conservative.”

“While Steam appears to be technically capable of moderating extremist and hateful content on its platform, the spread of extremist content on the platform is due in part to Valve’s highly permissive approach to content policy,” the organisation said.

“In rare notable cases, Steam has selectively removed extremist content, largely based around extremist groups publicised in reporting or in response to governmental pressure. However, this has been largely ad hoc, with Valve failing to systematically address the issue of extremism and hate on the platform.”

The ADL is now urging Valve to adopt policies prohibiting extremism and hate, and enforce the policies “accurately at scale.”