The United States Department of Homeland Security recently created a grant worth almost $700,000 to fund research that monitors and prevents extremist activities originating within video game communities. According to TheGamer, white nationalists in the U.S. have been able to successfully recruit new members to support their cause through video games. This grant aims to prevent this type of radicalization from happening in the future.
“Over the past decade, video games have increasingly become focal points of social activity and identity creation for adolescents and young adults,” reads a statement posted on the DHS website. “Relationships made and fostered within game ecosystems routinely cross over into the real world and are impactful parts of local communities. Correspondingly, extremists have used video games and targeted video game communities for activities ranging from propaganda creation to terrorist mobilization and training.”
This grant is being given to a joint venture comprised of three organizations. This includes the Middlebury Institute’s Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, Take This (a non-profit organization focused on mental health), and Logically (a company aiming to limit large-scale negative behavior in online communities).
(All information was provided by TheGamer)
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