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Steam, the largest and most important online store for PC gamers with over $4 Billion in revenue in 2017, has recently gained popularity among white supremacists for being a platform, like Gab and Telegram, where they can openly express their ideology and calls for violence. The difference between Steam and social media platforms like Telegram or Gab is that while the latter do not share a formal business relationship with the wider social media industry, Steam has direct and lucrative relationships with most major game companies, including 2K, Electronic Arts, Xbox Game Studios, Ubisoft and others. Many of these game companies have made public statements about and dedicated significant resources towards keeping their products safe from the kinds of hateful ideologies espoused by extremists — while continuing to work with Steam.

It is commonly recognized that social media presents vast new opportunities for terrorist groups seeking to radicalize audiences. However, few scholars have studied the actual mechanisms by which radicalizing messages are delivered to those audiences. Within this paper, the author explores one key aspect of the phenomenon of ‘jihadi cool’ – that is, the rendering of pro-Islamic terrorism into something hip and trendy among online audiences. Discussed is the use of political jamming: a subversive, satirical activity that draws on humor to reinforce ideological messages. The opportunity for countering these messages through the same technique is also considered.

VOX-Pol Blog post.

Comments made by Dr Rod Thornton, Lecturer, School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham on the events surrounding, and the repercussions of , the terrorism arrests at Nottingham University in May 2008

VOX-Pol Blog post.

Gaming Community of Practice: The Gaming Community of Practice (GCoP) was formed to foster collaboration, knowledge sharing, and innovation among practitioners in the gaming industry alongside global experts. The group aimed to inform the development of best practices and guidance to prevent terrorists and violent extremists (TVE) from exploiting games, gaming-adjacent services, and the gaming community. Leading members of the Extremism and Gaming Research Network (EGRN) produced a series of outputs based on Working Group meetings to guide online gaming companies in better awareness of TVE threats and how to counter them. Galen Lamphere-Englund worked with GIFCT to produce a report on Prevent, Detect, and React: A Framework for Countering Violent Extremism on Gaming Surfaces as well as an annotated 2024 Resource List: Violent Extremism, Radicalization, and Gaming. Rachel Kowert and Sarah Chittick produced a brief guide for companies on Threat Surfaces in Games: Challenges and Best Practices. The group’s gaming platforms also explored how best expanded threat signal sharing could evolve, which will take form further as GIFCT’s Investigator’s Community of Practice in 2025.