2. On Vulgarity, Threats, Prejudice, and Generally Dickish Behavior
This is the part of the article I warned you about. It’s the part where I have to play some twisted and sick version of “show and tell” so that you, the reader, understand exactly the level of putrescence that the world’s unwashed gamer masses are capable of creating. It ain’t pretty. If you often find yourself blushing in the women’s underwear section, or nauseated by the word “poo poo”, I strongly suggest you just skip to the next page and assume that people on the internet spew enough filth that they could easily win Olympic dual medals in hate stupidity. You’ve been warned.
The above suggestions and potential actions were the response to a recent incident of blatant harassment that took place on the reality show Cross Assault. It seems that the Tekken Team coach couldn’t help talk about his team member’s bra size and smell her hair for a solid 13 minutes. It was a rather mild and simultaneously rather aggressive case of sexual harassment in gaming, because it took place not over Xbox Live, but in the real world. But, the problem of online harassment has been one since the birth of the internet. Every person who has played an online game or used an online game forum has likely been exposed to (if not the recipient of) a slew of slurs and verbal assaults that only a prepubescent (read pre paleolithic) mind would find anything other than detestable. The problem is large enough, that gamers worldwide have earned a reputation of being a community of intolerance and bigotry. And, it is with that fact in mind that Portnow suggested such strict measures.
The majority of online gamer rage takes form in loosely combined hate speech targeted at one of three groups: women, ethnic backgrounds, and homosexuals. Sadly, that isn’t all that surprising. However, the levels to which that hate speech and harassment can reach are surprising. We’ve all (unfortunately) come to expect a measure of ignorant blathering when playing online. The competitive nature of gaming, combined with the age group of modern gamers, and the anonymity of online interaction result in a substantial amount of anger. That anger often comes out in blind, hateful bile filled insults about some one’s race, body type, or how many dudes they like to kiss.
It’s bad enough that we expect this. But it’s worse that absolutely disgusting incidents like this one happen, in which a man messaged a girl with about a dozen voicemails over Xbox Live. The mails range from sexual advances, to threats of rape, and threats of physical violence. And to top it off, the incident was started by a racist comment that triggered a smart assed grammar correction. Doesn’t it always start with grammar?
The problem is real, so real in fact that efforts to address the problem indirectly through awareness campaigns and the like are often met with fierce backlash. For instance, Sam Killerman started a website with the sole purpose of taking online pledges to not engage in racist or bigoted trash talk online. The result? His site was hacked, filled with racist slurs, a little goatse action, and his pledges were all wiped. His crime? Um…..not…um….liking bigotry? Incidents like this one are sadly abound. Another shining example is the case of Anita Sarkeesian, whose Kickstarter project to fund her feminist perspective video game review series drew enough misogynistic hate to make a Klu Klux Klan member feel embarrassed.
Honestly, I can’t write any more in this section. If you clicked on half the links provided, you’ve learned that online hate speech is a real problem, that really affects people. I feel a bit ill having researched and watched/read all of those articles/videos. I think most people (not racist pricks) can agree that the presence of such hate is not a desired thing, and that the aforementioned measures, if taken by Microsoft would have the positive effect of at least limiting the amount of pointless aggression that spews forth from such…..unenlightened individuals. So let’s go ahead and slap some duck tape on their mouths. Let’s do whatever it takes to shut them the hell up, right now. Right?
It’s not like we’re limiting free speech…oh…
You Might Also Like...
- Injustice: Gods Among Us – 10 Characters We Want To See
- Xbox Live Gold Goes Free To All 8th-10th March
- 10 Lessons Microsoft Need To Learn From Sony
Want to write about the stuff you're passionate about and have your work read by an audience of over 10 million a month? Click here to become a contributor.
10 Comments
What people don’t understand about Microsoft’s online service is how to use the filter for a player review. If you don’t like what a person has to say giving a player a bad review essentially means you will probably not ever encounter that person again. As for outright profanity or comments directed at someone in a hateful manner it should be banned. The service is for playing games with your friends and possibly making new ones not using the anonymity of the service to hate on your fellow humans.
Can’t control the Internet a sence of society may develope with in a few decades which will actively stand against all the …ists but banning them now gives them some ground to complain and continue yapping about how all the failure in there life is to blame on some minority who has a better car
I’m not entirely sure I understand America’s (and more specifically American’s) position on the whole free speech thing. How can it ever be considered acceptable to walk up to someone in the street and issue them a verbal assault on their size, colour, choice of footwear or whatever else. This kind of crime, which is what it is, shouldn’t be something you want to protect, it should be something you want to eradicate.
Every White country, community, and institution on the planet is forced to become multicultural and multiracial. EVERY white country, community, and institution is told to end its own race and culture. No one asks that of ANY non-White country, community, or institution. Immigration and integration is forced upon EVERY White country, community, and institution and ONLY White countries, communities, and institutions. Anti-whites call themselves “anti-racists”, but their actions lead to the elimination of one race and only one race, my race, the White race. The true goal of anti-racism is to wipe out my race. It is genocide.
There is only one race, the human race.
@Pete
Human is not a race, it’s a species.
The fact is that you only hear about “one race” in White countries. And it’s usually said in order to promote some policy that dispossesses White people.
Peter: There are actually legal differences between “hate speech” and “verbal assault”. The difference being that “Verbal assault” is speech that implies the threat of direct or immediate violence OR makes one feel threatened. A lot of time “hate speech” perpetrated in person falls under that jurisdiction. The problem comes when people start trying to legislate what is or is not offensive based on hate. Does hate for a government constitute hate speech? What about hate for another football club? Though it’s dangerously close to falling under the “domino effect” fallacy of reasoning, the truth is that limiting people’s rights because we find a certain kind of word offensive sets legal precedent to do so when we find a new kind of word offensive.
That said….I totally support Walter W’s right to blather like a sociopath about whatever the hell point he was trying to make in his comment. But, I’m still pretty sure I disagree with his comment. Like, with every fiber of my body, because he was just spewing crazy talk.
When the R word is used, you can bet its just an attack against white people for being white and wanting to remain white. Is that not so?
The big taboo is that whites are not able to talk about what is good for whites.
And the strawman used to suppress discussion is slurring whites with labels, such as, KKK, white supremacists, nazi-who-want-t- kill-six-million-jews. Tell me this is not so.
Anti-racist is a codeword for anti-white.
I knew this atircle would bring out the kind of characters I avoid the like plague online. George I absolutely have no idea what your talking about, I think you’ll find your whole comment is an oxymoron, if someone is deemed a racist it’s because they are racist not because they are white. Your whole rant doesn’t make any sense and tbh belies your true colours.
Whereas Walters comment highlights the need for Microsoft to up their game on this issue, it’s not a freedom of speech issue racial incitement and hatred is against the law of most countries and the online space should be no different.
The rubbish I have heard on call of duty servers has forced me to concentrate on speaking to my friends only, which is a shame as many of those friends were made as a result of the good natured banter I used to have on those game servers.
Racism is a concept that needs to disappear. It has no place in modern society whatsoever, let alone in videogames. You above, who said that horse manure about white people being victimized, and that anti-racism is a codeword for anti-white: Apart from how ridiculous you sound, it terrifies me that people like you exist. Us white people have NOTHING to complain about. You insane freaks. Welcome to the twenty-first century.