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Former White Supremacist leader confirms groups using multiplayer gaming to recruit young people
- Thread starter Cow Mengde
- Start date
This is not a bad idea. Maybe make an OT or community thread. Then we can discuss gaming for our kids.
I feel like that just labeling this a "racism problem" can lead to others trivializing the issue. This is worse than that. It's not just kids screaming the n-word that's the problem It's kids screaming the n-word who are then contacted by white supremacists/Nazis and eventually twisted into something more than just some edgy kid.Gaming has a racism problem?
Not that we needed confirmation, but good to have evidence pile up, it's no surprise, youtubers obviously are also big part of it.
That's a bit hyperbolic, it's not like these tactics were used only on gamers, preying on outcasts has always been a tactic of these bastards, this problem goes beyond just gaming and nerds, they go after every person who feels wronged.
That's a bit hyperbolic, it's not like these tactics were used only on gamers, preying on outcasts has always been a tactic of these bastards, this problem goes beyond just gaming and nerds, they go after every person who feels wronged.
The whole "try and understand Nazis" crowd continues to give white supremacists a platform which they use to recruit even more loyal followers.
Playing right into their hands. They are laughing at you while you push your broken ideal.
I guarantee there are arms of Nazi recruitment who insert themselves in the middle man position. They are advocating for them while trying to appear disconnected.
Playing right into their hands. They are laughing at you while you push your broken ideal.
I guarantee there are arms of Nazi recruitment who insert themselves in the middle man position. They are advocating for them while trying to appear disconnected.
They know they'd get their ass beat.
Still got a big problem with being inclusive to women and gay people.
As a Fighting game loving mexican, it seems to me logical that they wouldn't even try to touch a community where the majority/a large portion is not white.
This is probably the main problem I have with PC gaming. Steam is a platform that refuses to censor or control messaging in people's screennames or avatars. I'll load up a game of Rocket League and get a heap of white supremacist or the_donald memes thrown in my face. It definitely makes me consider how a more restrictive and controlled console could be more appealing for a parent.
Games are very attractive to those who partake in "Gun Culture" since many young gun enthusiasts got into guns because of games like Counter-Strike or Call of Duty. Gun enthusiasts obviously label themselves as conservative, which then brings them to the other crazy things that may come with conservatism.
It's a shame that some of my old friends who are into guns get convinced to believe in some other crazy stuff simply because they believe they need to be steadfast in their political alignments.
You just have to look at how nazi-like rhetoric has invaded gaming space with claims of censorship in games, demanding the removal of women and minorities, demands of free speech which are never about free speech, not wanting politics in their games, their call outs against the media. And those like Boogie who remain "neutral" who only help these people maintain their platform and momentum. Or H3H3 who has started catering to these kinds of people. Jon 'gene pool' Jafari who got his statistics from a literal white supremacist site and people siding and defending him. PewDiePie and his Nazi stuff. Chris Ray Gun defending Milo's pedophilia and being a general piece of shit who does his best to ruin discourse on legit problems. And all of them who have either been on a vodcast or have communicated with Sargon of Akkad who is a useful tool to neo-nazis.
Those are big name influencers. And that's not even the tip of the iceberg.
Those are big name influencers. And that's not even the tip of the iceberg.
OP
OP
yeah, this is huge. all of the 'big influencers' in video gaming right now are either paying lip service or outright backing up nazi talking points. make no mistake, young kids look up to people like this, they hang onto their every word, and the nazis know it. places like youtube are prime recruiting ground for that very reason. you bait them with 'sjws' destroying their favorite games, and reel them in.
i had to deal with this with my ten year old cousin. he loves pdp, quotes him all the time. that's how young they can hook them in. it's grooming, plain and simple.
that's why we've got to create more positive role models and spaces. i know it's carthratic to call the gaming community a dumpster fire— because it is— and let it burn, but we can't just let them have their way with it. we're handing them the next generation on a silver platter if we do.
Deplatforming nazis should be the first priority, as they are not entitled to free speech on private servers, within private organizations, on forums, etc. Make them retreat to the darkest corner of the web, and then deplatform that as well.
To say the left isn't doing anything but acting smart is fucking bullshit. The left has initiated and participated in hundreds of protests since 2016, voted in DSA candidates, caused major primary upsets, called their representatives relentlessly. We are doing things.
To tone police how minorities approach people with hateful ideology is fucking bullshit as well. Nazi ideology LITERALLY WANTS TO KILL THEM. These are the highest stakes imaginable, people have been killed at rallies, mass shootings have been caused by white supremacists. You want to talk about budding child Nazis? Dylan Roof was a kid, and he went into a church and committed a massacre. SURPRISE, people don't want to have a polite debate with him about his ideals.
Deplatform their leaders, pull the roots out so it doesn't have a chance to grow.
To say the left isn't doing anything but acting smart is fucking bullshit. The left has initiated and participated in hundreds of protests since 2016, voted in DSA candidates, caused major primary upsets, called their representatives relentlessly. We are doing things.
To tone police how minorities approach people with hateful ideology is fucking bullshit as well. Nazi ideology LITERALLY WANTS TO KILL THEM. These are the highest stakes imaginable, people have been killed at rallies, mass shootings have been caused by white supremacists. You want to talk about budding child Nazis? Dylan Roof was a kid, and he went into a church and committed a massacre. SURPRISE, people don't want to have a polite debate with him about his ideals.
Deplatform their leaders, pull the roots out so it doesn't have a chance to grow.
Sure, I ment in example like with Ohto and Chettlar in this thread. Neither of them has said or implied "hey minorities hear me out", but they both ended up having to defend and explain again what they said/ment as if they've said something wrong or problematic. Or they are accused of "both sides are bad" rhetoric. And also now they are seemingly trying to tell minorities people how to think and behave. They are talking about these things generally, they aren't adressing minorities. They feel there's something we (including me, who's not a minority) can do to help a change for the better. We had a thread created in the OT once, "Reach out to/educate bigots ~ to those who say this, you ever actually tried it?" and the OP also admitted from the start "if you say yes, I assume you are lying". Even the thought of trying to reach out and "educate" bigots was ridiculed in that thread by others too. Not sure who that helps and how. But this is what I ment by "fighting back" and it's not just this particular thread. Also I feel I need to repeat this again to be clear, I fully understand when people who are opressed don't have the patience or interest to engage with bigots. I won't blame them, they are the victims. Yet I think it's worthwhile to do even when not with 100% success rate, especially those who enjoy different priviledges should do it. If you are white, challenge racism, if you are straight then challenge homophobia etc. Do it at home, at school, at work, everywhere. Judging these things is of course also important, but with challenging these views I mean bit more than just telling people off. And no I don't expect especially minorities to have such patience with bigots, but there's plenty of priviledged people who are doing nothing and that has to change. So encouragement of people to discuss/challenge these things shouldn't be met with any opposite arguments. At worst case, the person doesn't change so I don't see any downsides to it. This approach shouldn't be ridiculed or questioned as much as it seems to be.
Also trying to affect people in a positive manner is something person can do on themselves, which makes it very important in my eyes. As I only have one vote myself, so in that way my means for change are quite limited. But if I can have any impact on how some other people vote, it gives me better chance. And not just voting, but of course I hope the person would also change their ways overall. And while I can ask or demand for the people in power to do something, it's just me asking for others to make the change. While discussing these things with people whom I disagree with, is something I can do on more personal and direct level.
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It is gaming specific if gaming is a unique and common means of recruitment. Compared to gaming, you think universities, hip hop scenes and basketball fan sites are good mediums for recruiting neo-nazi's ? Probably not. If the recruitment of young people into violent Neo-nazi organizations is a problem worth tackling than it's absolutely necessary to take a look at the routes by which these organizations recruit their members.
I'm down. This is one of my biggest concerns with my son online.
I just think that certain methods are far less productive than others. For some people the most effective response may just be to avoid the situation entirely as best they can. I don't think that all methods are equally effectual and I think some are actually counterintuitive.
Not surprised at all. I followed the GamerGate movement closely a couple years ago and was exactly this, using the ethics in game journo as a bullshit facade. It was all a political/social movement from the very beggining and this people saw a huge opportunity with this kids, mostly Trump supporters by now. It really makes me sad, but I'm relieved to see that this is info is coming out. As obvious as it may sound, someone somewhere is gonna ask you for proof of this acussations, and is good to have them on record.
Also, FUCK this dudes toying with depressed people for political gain. They make me sick to my stomach.
Also, FUCK this dudes toying with depressed people for political gain. They make me sick to my stomach.
Piping in again to point out that that's not how it works. Nobody comes out the gate swinging with "come join me in heaven". It's a slow and subtle process. You become friends, then start seeding your conversations with more and more insidious bullshit until they're fully on board.
This utter dismissal of the issue does a lot more harm than you seem to believe.
Lonely, disenfranchised people are not "dumb" for wanting to feel like they belong somewhere. And that's what these fucklords are taking advantage of.
Don't be a fucking asshole.
I used to be part of a chatroom where a kid that couldn't be older than 18 started linking me that shit, fully knowing im mexican, saying "but look, here are the stats backing up Jon!".
That kid was not a racist, that kid didn't mean harm. That was a kid who just wanted to defend one of his fave youtubers, we had to explain to him he was blindly linking racist propaganda, he eventually apologized because he admitted he didn't read the link.
Im horrified at the damage these dipshits do to the young.
Pretty disgusting.
But here in Brazil this is not actually news. Online gaming was aways like that, with a lot of disgusting cases(ragnarok online for instance). In fact, on the streets people here uses what I call subtle racism.
But here in Brazil this is not actually news. Online gaming was aways like that, with a lot of disgusting cases(ragnarok online for instance). In fact, on the streets people here uses what I call subtle racism.
I don't know why but I'm picturing a guy in a backwards cap with sunglasses and a skateboard being sent to recruit the younger generation into RADICAL Islam
It is good but lacks a big point: what do we do after the Nazis got the kids? Yeah, we should, as a society, working to avoid that in the first place, but what do we do when it is too late? How do you approach or talk to a kid who already went full alt-right and think he is in the right, in the good?
It is extremely hard to make that people recognize their mistakes or even engaging in a normal conversation. I know people can change, they deserve the opportunity to change and show it (talking from experience being a former mysoginist), like the former white supremacist on the OP, but how do we deal with people with their vision so up they own arses they refuse to change?
I'd love to have an answer to that, but sadly, after many years of tiring social media exchanges, I have no clue. You go and tell that alt-right kid that he's doing great? That the way he sees the world is not bad when clearly it is?
The guy in the OP hasnt actually changed much. The thread in etcetera goes into it.
https://www.resetera.com/threads/fo...-an-ama-on-reddit-read-op.52250/page-9#footer
As all people reforming, clearly is gonna need a lot more of work and time to be seeing by the people eyes, and is understandable, just catched up on the things he did and, yes, he will need A LOT of time and work.
Oh, the guy who's pushing his book and doesn't really think of himself as racist
Well, maybe this can get some of you to get your family to stop shouting slurs online
Well, maybe this can get some of you to get your family to stop shouting slurs online
It is really difficult and I find unrealistic that it will solved in any matter anytime soon. To stop radicalization a good portion of the country will need to see it has a huge problem, their needs to be a political will to confront it and treat it, and the government and many organizations need to dedicate resources. It won't be dealt with grassroot programs. They do not have the resources to solve such a complex and large scale problem.
That one is way, way tougher. However, it is true that time is on our side if we act. If we can stop the floodgates (i.e. the young kids), then eventually the old angry bastards will grow old and die. I'd rather it not take that long, and every person we neglect and leave to the other side represents years longer the process will take.
There is no easy solution here because it's tied so deeply to what makes humans human. Like, I can think of no tougher task. I never wanted to imply it was easy. I just wanted to say it was important.
Its upsetting that my rant against a great issue rampant among the left was seen by the mods here as some sort of negative generalization of the left at large, rather than a call to action as it was intended. If you don't call out a rampant issue, how on Earth are you supposed to fix it? And in my opinion, it's extremely extremely common, especially given that it feels like an uphill battle any time I encounters it. I think we can be better. Apologies if it sounded like I just think the left is nothing but terrible people. That was not the intent.
anyone who still doesn't think GamerGate wasn't an orgy of recruitment for these groups is delusional
No worries, I understood your main point, just was pointing out the depressing reality that there's not much we can do after. We for sure need to start seeing this educational and mental stuff from the beggining of the life and treat it seriously since day 1.