They don’t like the way companies have dealt with extremism.

In December last year, a letter was sent to Sony Interactive Entertainment and the other big players (Microsoft, Valve, Epic Games…) by a congresswoman, Lori Trahan, who published the developments on her website a few days ago. The response she received from most of the companies was inadequate, and their policies on extremes in online gaming were not what she would expect.

“Since I sent requests to gaming companies, I’ve heard from parents nationwide about how concerned they are with the increase in harassment and extremism in their kids’ games. After reading through responses from top gaming companies, I’m disappointed that most companies failed to address some of our most urgent questions, including providing us with their policies around extremism and transparency reporting around these topics. A lot of work is ahead to maximize the positive benefits of online games and address real harms like harassment and extremism. Still, we need these companies to partner in both those efforts – not just look at their games through rose-tinted glasses,” Congresswoman Trahan wrote.

Sony said it would do its best to educate parents about the safety features of PlayStation consoles and will stand by the Safer Gaming Initiative, in which Microsoft and Nintendo are also participating. Sony highlighted its reporting mechanisms and added that real people moderate all harassment notifications. The company also uses communications technology to censor hate speech and swearing.

Trahan’s report states, “Nine out of fourteen companies failed to mention policies or actions they deploy to assess and mitigate extremist content specifically. Seven companies did not mention how they engage with marginalized and at-risk communities most impacted by online hate and harassment. Eight companies do not have or declined to describe transparency reporting about the proliferation of harassment and extremist content in their games.”

This backlog is impossible to catch up with.

Source: PSL