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Valve must address swastikas and other hate on Steam, writes US senator in a letter to Gabe Newell (www.rockpapershotgun.com)

submitted 14 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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In the letter, Democrat senator Mark Warner argues that Valve's content moderation doesn't meet industry standards, and says he wants Valve to "crack down on the rampant proliferation of hate-based content".

The exact hateful stuff he's talking about was highlighted in that report by the Anti-Defamation League last week. Its many findings include swastikas in profile pictures, antisemitic images such as the "happy merchant", and instances of Pepe the frog, a meme appropriated by the far right that - let's be honest - has never washed the stink off. Steam is "inundated with hate" as a result of these findings, say the anti-discrimination group.

While the simmering bubbles of fascism won't be news to the average Steam user (or average internet user, to be frank) that doesn't mean we ought to get complacent about them. It's proof, says senator Warner, that Valve is lacking good moderation.

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 14 hours ago (6 children)

What industry standards is he talking about here? Steam code of conduct only says you must engage in lawful behaviour. There's no American law banning far-right symbols. There's no doubt Steam has a content moderation issue and I would love to see those things go as well. But unless there's some kind of law then Valve is just going to ignore this problem like they've done in the past.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 14 hours ago (5 children)

Well, name another game platform that openly allows swastikas. I think they are saying the rest of the industry largely doesn't allow this so Valve shouldn't either.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 13 hours ago

Do American streets count as a platform?

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