Key Takeaways
- US Senator Mark Warner has raised concerns over hateful content on Steam, questioning Valve’s moderation policies.
- The Anti-Defamation League found millions of instances of hate speech on the platform.
- Valve’s past hands-off approach to content moderation has led to continued issues on Steam.
On November 15, 2024, Mark Warner, a US Senator from Virginia, published an open letter to Steam’s parent company Valve identifying widespread use of the platform in spreading hateful speech and images. Steam is the world’s largest online gaming distribution platform with a robust array of social networking features. The service generates billions in annual revenue for Valve and represents the majority of the company’s market value.
The letter comes on the heels of an investigation into Steam by the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism that found millions of instances of hateful content including swastikas and anti-Semitic cartoons, posts supporting terrorist organizations and mass shooters, and avatars utilizing white supremacist iconography. While some developers and publishers are pushing back against discriminatory behavior, Steam has in the past been reticent to moderate either the content of its games or its social forums.
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As announced in a press release on the senator’s website, the letter seeks to clarify Valve’s position on the alarming quantity of hateful content found on Steam, namely, why it’s allowed to be there at all. Warner notes that despite Steam’s robust monthly active user base and market prominence, the platform has avoided broad public scrutiny over how it handles extremist and hate-based content.
Steam’s Online Conduct Policy Called Into Question
Senator Warner cites Steam’s own Online Conduct policy that directs players to refrain from encouraging real-world violence or harassing other users via intimidation and abusive language, among other guidelines. He goes on to challenge Valve’s commitment to its own guidelines, given the quantity of hateful content, and warns against “toxic social environments that elevate harassment and abuse.”
Warner also points out that this is not the first time Valve’s attention has been called to problematic content on its platform. The ADL, which has launched initiatives against toxic gaming in the past, has investigated Steam before. Also, In 2022, Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire sent a similar letter to Valve head Gabe Newell identifying content espousing misogynistic, white supremacist, and violent ideologies. Warner claims that Valve has done little to stem the flow of vitriol since that communication, continuing to take “a ‘hands off’-type approach to content moderation that favors allowing some users to engage in sustained bouts of disturbing and violent rhetoric.” He goes on to ask for a more granular definition of the types of malicious actions described in the company’s policies, details on its enforcement practices, the quantity of conduct policy violations it records, and more.
Content moderation has become a key topic in government relations with major social media companies, as disinformation, hate speech, and depictions or encouragement of violence continue to find safe harbor on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and others. If Warner’s letter generates a response of any kind, it may provide insight into Valve’s larger position on the subject, and its intended trajectory for addressing the harassment, hate speech, and extremist saber-rattling currently present on Steam.
Valve
- Date Founded
- August 24, 1996
- Headquarters
- Bellevue, Washington, United States
- CEO
- Gabe Newell
- Subsidiaries
- Campo Santo