Welcome or welcome back to Trust & Safety Lately,your monthly recap of all things trust & safety with an eye on the gaming industry. Before we dive into this month's newsletter, head over to our blog where we ask a seemingly simple question: What is prosocial behavior? Not a trick question, but definitely a question with a tricky answer!
Without further ado, in this issue of Trust & Safety Lately we've got:
☢️ Toxicity and Harassment in Games
🐨 Social Media Age Limits in Australia
🔥 Microsoft Xbox Layoffs
🐳 Sea of Toxicity & Hacking
🕵🏽 Social Media Subterfuge?
🎰 EU Games Complaint
🔞 Instagram Updates
⚾ Striking Out with Twitch
Let's jump in! 🔸
Data & Reports
☢️ Toxicity and Harassment in Games
Dutch internet safety research organization Offlimits published a report on toxicity in gaming. Researcher Ouassima Belmoussi conducted 20 in-depth interviews with gamers across the globe to find their experiences with toxicity in gaming communities aligns with previous research in the area.
Gamers adopt passive coping mechanisms in the face of toxicity and harassment:
... gamers adopt various coping strategies, ranging from passive methods such as ignoring, avoiding, putting things into perspective, accepting and conforming...
Gamers also adopt more active approaches to combating toxicity, like:
... counterspeech, reporting toxic players and supporting victims.
However, counterspeech and challenging toxicity in public online settings was generally seen as discouraged:
... speaking up against toxicity and showing vulnerability about it is mostly discouraged in the gaming world, with people perceiving this as excessive sensitivity.
Read the full report here, which includes a list of recommendations like pushing for stricter regulations, gaming studio involvement, and tapping gamers themselves to give guidance.
Industry News
🐨 Social Media Age Limits in Australia
Financial Times reports on the Australian government's plans to implement access restrictions for users ages 13 to 16. Criticisms to the proposal point to the nebulous definition of "social media" (do games like Roblox and Animal Crossing count as social media?) and the potentially negative consequences of removing access to important social spaces for young people.
🔥 Microsoft Xbox Layoffs
In the last Trust & Safety Lately, we shared a report from DDM that indicated optimism for growth in the gaming sector. That optimism might be hard to fathom given a huge number of layoffs from one of the largest game studios in the world last month. IGN reports on Microsoft laying off 650 staff working in the Xbox division, saying:
These latest layoffs mean Microsoft has let go of 2,550 staff from its gaming business since acquiring Activision Blizzard for $69 billion in 2023.
🐳 Sea of Toxicity & Hacking
Rare studio's popular pirate simulation game Sea of Thieves has seen an uptick in reports of toxicity, harassment, and possible hacking in recent weeks. Product Director Drew “Sonicbob” Stevens shares a statement on Rare's blog, noting the team's commitment to safety and plans for new moderation tools.
TikTok continues to push back against claims that its platform is being used to proliferate Chinese propaganda and to actively suppress negative stories or narratives about the Chinese government. NBC News points to two past studies cited by Congress that indicate: yes, TikTok engages in content manipulation. One study by the Network Contagion Research Institute based out of Rutgers University compared the reach of content about topics sensitive to the Chinese government on TikTok versus Instagram. The study found large discrepancies in the availability of other pop culture content compared to content deemed as "sensitive" to China's interests:
The conclusions of our research are clear: Whether content is promoted or muted onTikTok appears to depend on whether it is aligned or opposed to the interests of the Chinese Government.
Meanwhile, Reutersshares Meta's announcement that it would be banning Russian state media outlets RT, Rossiya Segodnya and others from its platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. This follows a US Department of State report alleging employees of RT attempted to covertly influence elections in other nations, and even payed $10 million to a Tennessee company to create divisive online content ahead of the US elections this November.
🎰 EU Games Complaint
Roblox, Epic, EA Games and others have received an EU Consumer Complaint for allegedly tricking players -- particularly young players -- into spending money on their games. Selling in-game currency has been a longstanding practice in the gaming industry, but recent conversations about the potentially addictive nature of video games and the unclear (true) cost of purchases. After all, how much could 25,000 Robux even cost anyway ?
NPRreports on Instagram's latest updates to child safety policies and procedures. All users under 18 will be switched to "teen accounts," limiting the content they can see on feeds from accounts they don't follow, limiting direct message availability to accounts they don't follow, and giving those users a screen break reminder. Users between the ages of 16 and 18 will need a parent's authorization to remove the teen account settings.
Advocates argue the restrictions stifle teen access to information and socializing, plus places undue burden on teens who don't have a responsible adult in their lives to authorize non-teen account status.
⚾ Striking Out with Twitch
The video live streaming platform announced a new moderation practice in September, creating a tiered strike system against users who violate Twitch's code of conduct. Violations will earn users a moderation strike, with certain infractions garnering lower level strikes, which expire over time. Serious and repeated infractions will result in longer-term enforcements like suspensions or bans. Twitch will also provide users with more details of the detected violation and enforcement rationale.
Industry Events
Women in Games Global Conference 2024
October 7
Virtual
Eradicate Hate Summit 2024
October 21- 23, 2024
Pittsburgh, PA
GamesBeat Next 2024
October 28-29, 2024
San Francisco, CA
Modulate, 212 Elm St, Suite 300, Somerville, MA 02144, USA
