One-third of gaming session that expressed pride in ethnic, religious or national identity resulted in abuse; 38 percent of gaming sessions included harassment toward Jewish people
New York, NY, January 16, 2025, … Hate and harassment was recorded in almost half of online multiplayer game sessions tested with a range of religious, ethnic and national identity-based usernames, shows new research conducted by the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) Center for Technology and Society. Examples of hate and harassment included racial slurs, trash-talking or disrupted play.
Identity-based harassment was present in one-third of play sessions across the four games (Valorant, Counterstrike 2, Overwatch 2 and Fortnite) played by participants (student researchers) using usernames “Proud2bJewish”, “Proud2bMuslim”, “Proud2bChinese”, “Proud2bIsraeli”, and “Proud2bMexican”. In some sessions, people were not just harassed based on their specific username but also encountered instances of general identity-based harassment or harassment toward multiple other identities.
“The unacceptable normalization of harassment in online games is not only concerning because of how widespread it is and because so many teens and young people are exposed to hate in these spaces, but also because of the intensity of the verbal abuse we’ve recorded,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “Hearing phrases such as ‘gas the Jews’, calling people the ‘n-word’ or seeing a player named Hitler is not inconsequential; it’s pure, unabashed hatred and gaming companies need to step up and make it stop.”
Among the four games tested, Valorant and Counterstrike 2 stood out for resulting in some type of harassment in about two-thirds of the game sessions; half had identity-based harassment. Overwatch 2 and Fortnite, in contrast, showed the least amount of identity-based harassment (8 percent for Overwatch 2 and 20 percent for Fortnite). In Valorant and Counterstrike 2, over half (57 percent) of the play sessions with the ‘Proud2bJewish’ username included some level of Jewish identity-based harassment.
ADL has been investigating hate and harassment—as well as prosocial behavior—in online multiplayer games since 2019. Six out of ten people (ages 5-90) in the U.S. play video games, according to the Entertainment Software Association, and there are over 3 billion players around the world. In 2023, ADL found that 76 percent of adult participants (aged 18-45) and 75 percent of teens (ages 10-17) in online multiplayer games reported experiencing any harassment in online games.
“As increasing numbers of people engage in online gaming spaces, we need to find ways to minimize disruptive behavior, hate and harassment,” said Daniel Kelley, Interim Head & Director of Strategy and Operations, ADL Center for Technology and Society. “The gaming industry and government have a responsibility to make sure people feel safe while engaging in competitive online gaming. As shown in our research, these spaces can lead to prosocial behavior, which should not be overshadowed by the rampant abuse we’re recording. At the same time, it’s alarming that one of the main responses across all participants in the study was that they expected there to be even more hate than there was.”
The report also included detailed recommendations for the gaming industry, government, researchers and caregivers. The full list is available at the end of the report.
Recommendations for industry:
- Implement industry-wide policy and design practices to better address how hate targets specific identities.
- Incentivize and promote prosocial behavior through design.
- Rather than reducing Trust & Safety headcount, as many companies have done in 2023 and 2024, companies must expand resources in this important area.
- Improve reporting systems and support for targets of harassment.
- Strengthen content-moderation tools for in-game voice chat.
- Release regular, consistent transparency reports on hate and harassment.
Recommendations for government:
In February 2024, ADL released its annual report Hate is No Game: Hate and Harassment in Online Games 2023 in which the need for governments to take a more active role in fighting hate and harassment in games was highlighted:
- Prioritize transparency legislation in digital spaces and include online multiplayer games.
- Enhance access to justice for victims of online abuse.
- Establish a National Gaming Safety Task Force.
- Resource research efforts.
Methodology
In late 2023 through summer 2024, a diverse group of students, recent graduates, and young adults participated as a game players in four online competitive first-person shooter games (Valorant, Counterstrike 2, Fortnite, and Overwatch 2) with the usernames Proud2BJewish, Proud2BMuslim, Proud2BIsraeli, Proud2BMexican, Proud2BChinese. The students recorded their almost 250 hours of cumulative gameplay and experiences after each hour of gameplay.
ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913, its timeless mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of antisemitism and bias, using innovation and partnerships to drive impact. A global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism and battling bigotry wherever and whenever it happens, ADL works to protect democracy and ensure a just and inclusive society for all. More at www.adl.org.