Support NeoGAF

[Lunatic_Gamer]

As reported by Vice, the funds are headed to Middlebury Institute's Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism (CTEC), the non-profit organization Take This, and a company looking to curb toxic online behavior called Logically.

“Over the past decade, video games have increasingly become focal points of social activity and identity creation for adolescents and young adults. Relationships made and fostered within game ecosystems routinely cross over into the real world and are impactful parts of local communities,” the grant announcement on the DHS website said. “Correspondingly, extremists have used video games and targeted video game communities for activities ranging from propaganda creation to terrorist mobilization and training.”

One of the goals of this new project is to develop a "set of best practices and centralized resources for monitoring and evaluation of extremist activities as well as a series of training workshops for the monitoring, detection, and prevention of extremist exploitation in gaming spaces for community managers, multiplayer designers, lore developers, mechanics designers, and trust and safety professionals”

US Homeland Security Will Spend $700k to Investigate 'Radicalization' Through Video Games - IGN

The United States Department of Homeland Security has awarded a nearly $700,000 grant to terrorism and security researchers to investigate "radicalization" through video games.

ign.com

 

[Roni]

So, basically, counter weaponize the game industry. Time to start playing GDI only in CNC, no more Nod, you extremists!

 

[mansoor1980]

phil spencer should be the chief investigator

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

phil spencer should be the chief investigator

Investigator? Or investigated?

 

[KungFucius]

Its really not much money at all. Looks like 1 or 2 people will look across games and game related chats for signs of radicalization. If they find something, then maybe they expand the effort.

 

[winjer]

Horse armor, DLCs, micro-transactions, NFTs, in-game ads and now propaganda.
In the last decade gaming has taken a very strange turn, for the worst.

 

[mansoor1980]

Investigator? Or investigated?

why would he need investigation ? he is THE good guy of the industry

 

[nush]

Start with Discord first guys.

 

[lh032]

lol just 700k?

 

[Three]

"and prevention of extremist exploitation in gaming spaces for community managers, multiplayer designers, lore developers, mechanics designers, and trust and safety professionals”

I guess this is why games are always the same thing when it comes to story.

phil spencer should be the chief investigator

You joke but I have this back of my head feeling this was part of the reason why MS bought Skype.

2009 NSA struggled with skype:
https://www.theregister.com/2009/02/12/nsa_offers_billions_for_skype_pwnage/

2011 MS aquire skype


2013 leak that MS handed over skype encryption keys to NSA:
https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data

EU and Luxembourg investigate why exactly 1 month after the aquisition the NSA gained access to skype data and whether it was partly funded by the NSA

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-7-2013-006766_EN.html?redirect

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/11/skype-ten-microsoft-nsa

 

[Y0ssarian]

 

[mansoor1980]

"and prevention of extremist exploitation in gaming spaces for community managers, multiplayer designers, lore developers, mechanics designers, and trust and safety professionals”

I guess this is why games are always the same thing when it comes to story.



You joke but I have this back of my head feeling this was part of the reason why MS bought Skype.

2009 NSA struggled with skype:
https://www.theregister.com/2009/02/12/nsa_offers_billions_for_skype_pwnage/

2011 MS aquire skype


2013 leak that MS handed over skype encryption keys to NSA:
https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data

EU and Luxembourg investigate why exactly 1 month after the aquisition the NSA gained access to skype data and whether it was partly funded by the NSA

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-7-2013-006766_EN.html?redirect

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/11/skype-ten-microsoft-nsa

interesting

 

[Spukc]

No wonder people are getting angry with all that ingame sheit we have to endure

 

[Sorne]

"and prevention of extremist exploitation in gaming spaces for community managers, multiplayer designers, lore developers, mechanics designers, and trust and safety professionals”

I guess this is why games are always the same thing when it comes to story.



You joke but I have this back of my head feeling this was part of the reason why MS bought Skype.

2009 NSA struggled with skype:
https://www.theregister.com/2009/02/12/nsa_offers_billions_for_skype_pwnage/

2011 MS aquire skype


2013 leak that MS handed over skype encryption keys to NSA:
https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data

EU and Luxembourg investigate why exactly 1 month after the aquisition the NSA gained access to skype data and whether it was partly funded by the NSA

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-7-2013-006766_EN.html?redirect

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/11/skype-ten-microsoft-nsa

Cool tinfoil hat

 

[Elysion]

Well, microtransactions, f2p and paid online certainly radicalized me.

 

[Three]

Cool tinfoil hat

Thanks, I made it myself.

Them giving the NSA access is a leaked fact but whether that was one of the reasons for the aquisition no idea, just a back of my head feeling that it played a part, especially if the NSA truly were offering billions for a back door prior to them being bought.

 

[ParaSeoul]

they're actually all on discord

 

[HoodWinked]

Ya radicalization does exist look at resetera.

 

[ShadowLag]

Over the past decade, video games have increasingly become focal points of social activity and identity creation for adolescents and young adults.

They uh, missed a couple decades. Bright folks we're dealing with here.

Anyway, this is just another vector for them to track down people that dare disagree with Current Thing™ and make sure they get doxxed by blue haired karens.

 

[SJRB]

lmao, land of clowns.

 

[Pasta la Vista]

700k lol

 

[Fuz]

I hate living in the age of retardation.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Twitter and Facebook must be pissing themselves

 

[RoboFu]

Rather than schools where all the evidence points? Good job government!

 

[Rayderism]

The term "FPS" will take on new meaning. They're gonna turn those First Person Shooters into Flower Picking Sims.

Seriously though, I wonder how much of an issue this really is, I don't really play online games, but it's probably more like they hear kids talking shit online and are calling it terrorist/extremist activity simply because the kids didn't add "in Minecraft" to their comment. Maybe there's something to it, I don't know, but I've never gotten a sense of any of that kind of radical stuff actually going on in gaming or in any of the gaming communities I'm a part of, beyond just what terrorist/extremist stuff that might exist as part of the plot in the game.

 

[darrylgorn]

What about parents who are forced to play Roblox with their kids?

 

[Operations66]

This is good. The radical left-wing indoctrination in video games needs to stop. Good job, government.

 

[Daytonabot]

Rather than schools where all the evidence points? Good job government!

You have to remember that when the Feds say "radicalization", they exclusively mean people to the right of Chairman Mao.

Ironically, "radical" is a left-wing term. The right-wing equivalent is "reactionary".

 

[DeepEnigma]

More planting of boogie men of a certain narrative where they don't exist.

 

[Tripolygon]

Rather than schools where all the evidence points? Good job government!

Schools are not where people are being radicalized, what evidence are you talking about?

 

[Fuz]

This is good. The radical left-wing indoctrination in video games needs to stop. Good job, government.

Not sure if sarcastic.

 

[drganon]

The US government sure does know how to waste money.

 

[Tripolygon]

The US government sure does know how to waste money.

700K is a needle in a haystack of the US government budget. You want to know what an actual waste is? The PPP loan that was passed without oversight and was pilfered by senators and representatives and wealthy people during the pandemic.

 

[DeepEnigma]

The US government sure does know how to waste our money.

FTFY

It's always easier to spend other people's money.

 

[Shifty1897]

Your tax dollars at work.

 

[Amiga]

Warhammer 40k is going to be canceled so hard.

This crap will only end the handful of still interesting American franchises, most of the still decent Western made games are from East Europe anyway.

 

[YukiOnna]

Okay great. Start with your military and the use of COD or Battlefield.

Idiots.

 

[HTK]

More wasted tax payers money.

 

[thismeinteil]

In other words, they paid some sap $40K to look at random gaming stuff online, while the other $660K went into these organization head's pockets. With, without a doubt, $75K-$100K being "donated" back to the campaign of the politician(s) who provided it to them.

 

[RoboFu]

Schools are not where people are being radicalized, what evidence are you talking about?

You seriously haven’t read anything about indoctrination in schools?? .. CRT, telling kids to f#%k! The police.. “don’t tell your parents .. talk to me. ..
I mean there’s a long list and gets worse in college..
It’s easy to find in google. Have a go.

 

[CherryFalls]

You're a fool if you don't think the CIA have their hands in game devolvement companies already

 

[Shakka43]

lol just 700k?

Makes sense. They will only be looking for games radicalizing towards the Right, not much of those these days...

 

[DevilHunterX0]

Video games like America's Army?

 

[flying_sq]

If they're only spending 700k, why are they even doing it?

 

[Tripolygon]

You seriously haven’t read anything about indoctrination in schools?? .. CRT, telling kids to f#%k! The police.. “don’t tell your parents .. talk to me. ..
I mean there’s a long list and gets worse in college..
It’s easy to find in google. Have a go.

I’m not seeing the evidence you are saying exists. All I see from you is talking points from Fox News and right wing pundits.

 

[Trazyn the Infinite]

why would he need investigation ? he is THE good guy of the industry

You are delusional.

 

[TheGodfather07]

The US government sure does know how to waste money.

All while America has more and more homeless and struggling people. Those fuckers spend ridiculous amounts of money on all sorts of shit but never on actually making the country better.

 

[mansoor1980]

You are delusional.

 

[Trazyn the Infinite]

Fair enough! Hard to tell when its a joke though as there are a good number of folks who genuinely believe that kind of statement .

 

[Outlier]

They're going to come after us, where ever they can.
The greedy grasps of those who think they know and are better, will always look for a way to take control.