Game Over: The Unintended Consequences of Video Game Censorship
Video games aren’t merely a toy anymore. Instead, they represent one of the fastest growing segments of the global internet ecosystem, garnering rapidly expanding user engagement and investment. Yet as video game platforms have evolved from the standalone cabinets and consoles of the late 20th century into a vibrant and interconnected social network, gaming has been plagued by many of the same speech moderation questions that have confronted Meta, Twitter, TikTok, and other social media platforms. Video game platforms aren’t just a place to shoot virtual enemies and fly simulated spaceships, they are also a place for users to engage in a wide array of political, religious, and other constitutionally protected activities.
Key Findings:
Video games and computer games are increasingly central to digital civil society, hosting political campaigns, protests, religious ceremonies, and much more.
Gaming often faces much more stringent censorship and regulation than other online service providers. In some cases, games are even banned for showing content comparable to what can legally be shown in movies / TV.
The multi-billion-dollar investment in virtual reality and augmented reality technology is likely to migrate large amounts of our online lives—work, social media, news consumption, etc.—onto gaming platforms.
Unless action is taken, this game platform migration will result in far fewer legal protections for users, enabling greater governmental control of online speech.
This work is made possible by the generous support of our partners at the Omidyar Network.
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