Hate Speech on Steam

Key Findings based on ADL research:

Valve’s Steam platform is indeed the leading online gaming marketplace, with a vast number of game developers relying on it for sales. In fact, around 60% of game developers in a 2020 survey reported making at least some of their income through Steam. Steam Community, which is an optional feature within Steam, functions as a social media platform where users can customize profiles, join groups, participate in discussions, and interact with friends through comments. 

​​Steam’s public-facing content policy does not specifically mention hate or extremism, which has raised concerns about the platform’s ability to effectively address harmful content.  The combination of gaming and social media makes Steam a powerful platform, but also one that requires careful moderation to ensure a safe and positive environment for its users.

ADL Research on hate speech on Steam: 

  1. Extremist and hateful content – in particular, white supremacist and antisemitic content – is widespread on Steam Community pages. The research identified 1.83 million unique pieces of extremist or hateful content on Steam, which included antisemitic symbols. Additionally, there were tens of thousands of instances where users expressed support for foreign terrorist organizations like ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and Hamas.  This highlights the significant presence of harmful content on the platform despite its technical capabilities for moderation
  2. There were 1.5 million unique users and 73,824 groups that used at least one potentially extremist or hateful symbol, copypastas (blocks of text that are copied and pasted to form images or long-form writing), or keywords on the platform.
  3. Copypastas are a popular method for sharing extremist or hateful content on Steam. There were 1.18 million unique instances of potentially extremist and hateful copypastas, 54 percent (634,749) of which were white supremacists and 4.68 percent (55,109) were antisemitic. 
  4. Many Steam users and group pages use an avatar (profile picture) with potentially extremist or hateful symbols. Multiple users can have the same avatar image. COE identified 827,758 user and group profiles with avatars that contained extremist or hateful symbols. 
  5. COE identified 184,622 instances of extremist or hateful keywords on Steam.
  6. The research identified thousands of profiles that glorify violent extremists, like white supremacist mass shooters. These include avatar pictures featuring mass shooters, references to manifestos and stills from livestreamed attacks, like the 2019 Christchurch, New Zealand, shooting. 
  7. While Steam appears to be technically capable of moderating extremist and hateful content on its platform, the spread of extremist content on the platform is due in part to Valve’s highly permissive approach to content policy. In rare notable cases, Steam has selectively removed extremist content, largely based around extremist groups publicized in reporting or in response to governmental pressure. However, this has been largely ad hoc, with Valve failing to systematically address the issue of extremism and hate on the platform. 

Recommendations for parents:

  • Steam’s user agreement states that users need to be 13 or older in order to make an account.
  • Steam allows users to chat via text or voice with friends, as well as in group chats with both friends and strangers. While these features promote social interaction, they can also expose users to harmful content, especially in public or unmoderated groups.
  • Engage in discussions with your child about their experiences on Steam: Ask questions like:
    • who do you play with?
    • Are you involved in discussions that are not related to the game? 
    • Have you encountered any disturbing content?
  • Encourage them to report any hate or extremist content they encounter.
  • Make sure your child understands the importance of avoiding interactions with users who share harmful content and block them if necessary.
  • You can set up parent control on Steam. Some of the features include game access permissions, Steam Store/community/chat restrictions and playtime limits. 
  • You can set the child profile to private in the Settings menu, which will prevent strangers from finding or contacting your child online.