We want to know from you if you have ever been targeted in the context of gaming and what your reaction to it was.
On November 16, 1996, exactly 27 years ago, the UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) signed the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance. It reaffirms, among other things, that tolerance is neither indulgence nor apathy, but respect and appreciation for the diversity of cultures.
This appreciation and respect are not only shaped by cultural considerations but also by our everyday (gaming) life. Especially on the internet, hate speech is a ubiquitous topic. It’s not just social networks like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and others. Voice chats or general text channels in gaming are also frequently misused for hate.
Many of us are probably familiar with this mainly from competitive games like League of Legends, Counter-Strike, DOTA, or other online games, where either “only” our own skills are belittled, or we are directly hit with racist, sexist, or other hate-filled remarks. Often it doesn’t matter how well or poorly one plays. Just one mistake or even just a different opinion is often enough to get “flamed”.
We would like to find out how many are affected on our websites and what they are doing about it through a survey. In the first step, we want to know from you if you have already been a victim of hostility in gaming communities. It doesn’t matter whether this hostility occurred in-game or on social networks in the gaming environment.
The answer to the question is completely anonymous, and you can vote on multiple points:
In the second step, we then want to know from those of you who answered the first question in any way with “Yes” what your consequences were from this hostility. The answer will also be completely anonymous here. However, this time you have up to two votes to document your immediate reaction and further handling of the game.
Of course, for GameStar, GamePro, and MeinMMO, the question arises daily about what we as editorial teams and communities can do together against hate speech. We look forward to your opinions, ideas, and experiences in the comment section. Feel free to write to us there about what you personally do against hate in gaming and what you would like from others. We are excited about your feedback!
