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Former White Supremacist leader confirms groups using multiplayer gaming to recruit young people

Cow Mengde

Cow Mengde

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,678
Christian Picciolini, a former white supremacist leader turned peace advocate, hate breaker, and author is doing an AMA at reddit! One reddit user asked how his group used to recruit people. He confirms multiplayer online gaming is used to recruit people. They promise these youths of paradise.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/8umemf/i_am_christian_picciolini_a_former_white/

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Deleted member 5545

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Oct 25, 2017
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I doubt this is happening on a large scale. Mostly because it doesnt even need to. Multiplayer PvP gaming communities are already toxic as fuck completely on their own.
 
Fat4all

Fat4all

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Oct 25, 2017
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no wonder gamergate meshed so well into that cauldron of piss
 

Min

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,066
I was just thinking, like seconds ago, how Milo Yiannopoulos really came into being in 2014 during GamerGate. Like many of the players associated with this fascist regime have roots in GamerGate. It shouldn't be surprising at all post-2014 (and hell even prior that; 2014 was just the powder keg moment) that online video games were being used by white nationalists to congregate and for recruitment.
 
Hey Please

Hey Please

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Oct 31, 2017
22,824
Not America
When I see ex-bigots and racists turn to the other side for the betterment of humanity, I am filled with some semblance of hope. Growing up in a somewhat racist family, I became one too, although not to the extent of the person being discussed in the OP. It's a fucking mind trap and one that requires time and exposure to people outside the bubble for rectification. I am glad that he is now sharing info on how the vulnerable people are being taken advantage of.
 
mugwhump

mugwhump

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Oct 27, 2017
2,288
Wait, foreign recruiters from eastern Europe? Do they actually pay these people?
 
OP
OP
Cow Mengde

Cow Mengde

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,678
Ganransu said:
But at least we have confirmation now, so the naysayers can ignore this as well when we throw it at their face.

I mean, there's just no proof that white supremacists use video games to recruit members. Nope, none at all.
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Exactly. Now we need to figure out how to stop it or prevent this.
 

Deleted member 42221

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I mean I'm not surprised, given the normalisation of slurs and toxic attitudes in online gaming.

I just straight up quit playing games online, and I'm glad to do it. I can get through my day easier with less people yelling at me calling me a faggot or a tranny.
 
Nanashrew

Nanashrew

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Oct 25, 2017
6,328
Not surprised in the least. I do remember getting into arguments back on gaf back in the day trying to talk about this. Nazis have invaded a ton of spaces and they're most prevalent on chan boards and reddit. They've entered gaming forums and multiplayer gaming et al because it's easy to convert young people. So many people kept trying to explain this and no one wanted to listen for the longest time.
 
TheDkmariolink

TheDkmariolink

Member
Nov 12, 2017
713
Recruiting young people (kids) into things is scummy as fuck, they are super impressionable and will follow anything if it seems fun, rewarding, or if they want to fit in somewhere to be part of something.

Resorting to this shows how shit and pathetic their group is.
 
Don Fluffles

Don Fluffles

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,051
Fantastic interview.
My favorite parts are about how random acts of kindness by the people he hated over time helped wake him up.
 
Ohto

Ohto

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Oct 27, 2017
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TheDkmariolink said:
Recruiting young people (kids) into things is scummy as fuck, they are super impressionable and will follow anything if it seems fun, rewarding, or if they want to fit in somewhere to be part of something.

Resorting to this shows how shit and pathetic their group is.
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Absolutely every political group does the same. Every progressive group too.

I agree though, it is pathetic no matter who does it.


And does this come as a surprise to anyone? Really? I mean, what would be the best place to attract young, often introvert and depressed or in other ways fucked up males to your group?


One reason neo-nazis attract people is that young men feel lost. There is nothing for them in society (or at least they feel like that). Best way to combat far right cunts is to make young people feel welcome and appreciated. Being a hostile asshole doesn't work, even though it seems to be the basic response to everything these days.
 
Nanashrew

Nanashrew

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Oct 25, 2017
6,328
Fat4all said:
no wonder gamergate meshed so well into that cauldron of piss
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Yep. anyone who followed the GamerGate stuff predicted this. Nazis were already moving into that movement, many GGers welcomed them with open arms because they shared a single enemy, women and feminism. Plenty of conservatives and right wing politicians saw GG as a way to get their interest too, because again they all shared the same enemy. It's why plenty of GGers are also Trump supporters.

It's all been connected and no one would listen to those who watched the movement closely.
 
AR Starts

AR Starts

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Oct 25, 2017
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I've heard all sorts of strange things while playing online games over the past two decades but have never had anyone ask me to be a part of their racist group.
 
MattWilsonCSS

MattWilsonCSS

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Oct 25, 2017
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Ohto said:
Absolutely every political group does the same. Every progressive group too.

I agree though, it is pathetic no matter who does it.


And does this come as a surprise to anyone? Really? I mean, what would be the best place to attract young, often introvert and depressed or in other ways fucked up males to your group?


One reason neo-nazis attract people is that young men feel lost. There is nothing for them in society (or at least they feel like that). Best way to combat far right cunts is to make young people feel welcome and appreciated. Being a hostile asshole doesn't work, even though it seems to be the basic response to everything these days.
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This seems just a tad steeped in "both sides" boogie bullshit. There's a reason people are hostile to the alt-right/nazis and it's because there is more at stake and more on the line for them than the average person. Their continued existence is threatened by these assholes.
 
Doggg

Doggg

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Nov 17, 2017
14,429
I find it more disturbing that they preyed on the depressed and mentally ill.
 
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