Study finds that 74% have been harrassed in online muliplayer games.

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Zetta

Zetta
According to a recent study by civil rights group the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), 74% of people who play online multiplayer games have experienced some form of harassment, with 65% experiencing “severe” harassment, which may include physical threats or stalking. And that’s only the start of their downpour of awful numbers, which cover bigotry, extremist views, which games have the worst occurrence rates, and more.

The study is based on a survey of more than 1000 people in the USA, conducted in April. It’s worth bearing in mind that survey data only provides part of the picture when it comes to an issue as complicated as online abuse, and can be limited based on who responds and why, as well as any number of other factors. Still, ADL report a margin of error of 4%, and the numbers remain unflattering however you look at them. I’m not going to include every result, so if you want that you can find the report and its summary at ADL’s website. Otherwise, here are some particular notes.

More than half – 53% of respondents – said that harassment was based on “race, religion, ability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.” So, while almost everyone is getting people being awful to them while they’re just trying to play a video game, a lot of it remains rooted in bigotry.

A way-too-large minority also reported having experienced other players chatting about “extremist ideologies,” including 23% overhearing discussions of white supremacy, 9% noticing Holocaust denial, 8% hearing support for Islamic State.

Article: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/20...ve-been-harassed-in-online-multiplayer-games/

Full report:https://www.adl.org/free-to-play
 

Vasea Azure

Vasea Azure
Internet is like a gate, when we open it we allow everybody to enter our life and interact with us. Since majority of population is using it its no surprise that you have a high chance of meeting someone who is a sociopath/weirdo, has a agenda and so on. Imagine having a house party where you invite 2000 random folks from around the states.
All I`m saying, when you play MP game, expect to meet mean people. Why is that a surprise to anybody I have no clue.
*I do not condone this behavior of curse.
 

Zetta

Zetta
Hmm I don't buy the house party example. In real life there are real cirumstances for abusive people and at a house party or somewhere similar that's liable to be a good kicking. Most of these people are complete cowards that only act this way because they feel safe to do so, in their bedroom, behind their computer monitor.
 

Bashy81

B
OP what you describe, & assuming it reflects the report, is 100% wrong. I have a 4% margin of error too whatever that nonsense means in this context. So youre somewhere between pretty intensely wrong, or beyond completely wrong.
"8% of participants report hearing support for Islamic State" lol, that's bait. 8% have no sense of humour, more like. Get a grip. This is not a neutral report for an OffTopic forum, it is a political trope with a censorship agenda.
 

Flimley

Flimley
Bashy81 said:
OP what you describe, & assuming it reflects the report, is 100% wrong. I have a 4% margin of error too whatever that nonsense means in this context. So youre somewhere between pretty intensely wrong, or beyond completely wrong.
"8% of participants report hearing support for Islamic State" lol, that's bait. 8% have no sense of humour, more like. Get a grip. This is not a neutral report for an OffTopic forum, it is a political trope with a censorship agenda.
Click to expand...
75% of all statistics are imaginered. 62% of all non made up people know this is true.

Flimley
 

Zetta

Zetta
Bashy81 said:
OP what you describe, & assuming it reflects the report, is 100% wrong. I have a 4% margin of error too whatever that nonsense means in this context. So youre somewhere between pretty intensely wrong, or beyond completely wrong.
"8% of participants report hearing support for Islamic State" lol, that's bait. 8% have no sense of humour, more like. Get a grip. This is not a neutral report for an OffTopic forum, it is a political trope with a censorship agenda.
Click to expand...

o_O Someone sounds emotional....

Everything in the original post is simply copy/pasted from the article itself. You would know this if you followed the link and verified things instead of just leaping to conclusions.
 

Vasea Azure

Vasea Azure
Now that Iv read the article, what exactly should we do with this information? Grab pitchforks or do what? Like I said, world is full of sociopaths, and like OP stated, they are even more willing to harass from behind the monitor.
When you play MP game, you have to accept that you will meet people like this. Looks to me like RPS "journalist" is trying to raise a drama as always. I will stay away from now on.
 

Chris Simon

Chris Simon
Vasea Azure said:
Now that Iv read the article, what exactly should we do with this information? Grab pitchforks or do what? Like I said, world is full of sociopaths, and like OP stated, they are even more willing to harass from behind the monitor.
When you play MP game, you have to accept that you will meet people like this. Looks to me like RPS "journalist" is trying to raise a drama as always. I will stay away from now on.
Click to expand...
I think we are supposed to shake fist at abusive people on the internet and say "Aaaargh! You're not supposed to do that!"
...or something.
 

Zetta

Zetta
Vasea Azure said:
Now that Iv read the article, what exactly should we do with this information? Grab pitchforks or do what? Like I said, world is full of sociopaths, and like OP stated, they are even more willing to harass from behind the monitor.
When you play MP game, you have to accept that you will meet people like this. Looks to me like RPS "journalist" is trying to raise a drama as always. I will stay away from now on.
Click to expand...

Why be so dramatic? No one has to grab their pitchfork, they can simply use it to educate themself. People can accept that perhaps it's getting to be more of a problem because of attitudes that boil down to - it's the internet or that's the way its always been or people just need to grow a thick skin etc.

Perhaps the real question is: why make excuses for bigotted behaviour?
 

Chris Simon

Chris Simon
Zetta said:
Why be so dramatic? No one has to grab their pitchfork, they can simply use it to educate themself. People can accept that perhaps it's getting to be more of a problem because of attitudes that boil down to - it's the internet or that's the way its always been or people just need to grow a thick skin etc.

Perhaps the real question is: why make excuses for bigotted behaviour?
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No maybe the real question is: Are the bad people on the internet really getting worse, or are the "good" ones just becoming overly sensitive?
Is it better and easier to shrug and block such abusive individual, or to demand censorship and artificial regulation to protect your feelings?

Be very careful what you wish for, because today you ask for somebody to be punished for causing you offense, tomorrow it could be you who has been deemed offensive.
You can either have full free speech or none. There is no middle ground
 

Zetta

Zetta
Chris Simon said:
No maybe the real question is: Are the bad people on the internet really getting worse, or are the "good" ones just becoming overly sensitive?
Is it better and easier to shrug and block such abusive individual, or to demand censorship and artificial regulation to protect your feelings?
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I suppose if you want to view it as a polarization issue then that's all you're going to see, but that strikes me as a very blinkered view of life.

We live in an age where people have learned that they don't have to tolerate abuse, that they don't have to suffer in silence. So it's makes sense that it is far less about people being more sensitive and more to do with people feeling they can speak up and call out all the crap that goes on.

Chris Simon said:
Is it better and easier to shrug and block such abusive individual, or to demand censorship and artificial regulation to protect your feelings?
Click to expand...

If you were to start racially abusing a person on the street you could very well find yourself arrested for it. People shouldn't have to leave a situation because someone else cannot control their bigotry.
Lots of countries have laws protecting people's "feelings" (as you dismissively put it) they have real world censorship and regulation to counter that type of behaviour. If you have it in the real world why should it not exist elsewhere?
 
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Chris Simon

Chris Simon
Zetta said:
I suppose if you want to view it as a polarization issue then that's all you're going to see, but that strikes me as a very blinkered view of life.

We live in an age where people have learned that they don't have to tolerate abuse, that they don't have to suffer in silence. So it's makes sense that it is far less about people being more sensitive and more to do with people feeling they can speak up and call out all the crap that goes on.
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People always knew they don't have to tolerate abuse. It's just that in the old days, they usually did something about it themselves. Nowadays they demand protection, because they're unable or unwilling to deal with it themselves.
It makes them weaker and it makes the world a worse place to live in. If you protect your freedom by taking it from another, the outcome is totalitarian and punitive.

My point is - if you demand genralized punishment for offensive, abusive behaviour on the internet, who is to decide what's offensive or abusive? You? If something's offensive to you, it's up to you to deal with it but nothing more.
 
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Chris Simon

Chris Simon
Zetta said:
Lots of countries have laws protecting people's "feelings" (as you dismissively put it) they have real world censorship and regulation to counter that type of behaviour. If you have it in the real world why should it not exist elsewhere?
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Because it's a fundamentally flawed system which just barely works in real life but can't ever work online.
Yes, racial slur is objectively a bad thing as are many other things that go against human nature of cooperation and social inclusiveness that is a part who we are as a species and enabled us to become the masters of this planet.

But my point is broader. More general.
For example this forum. Frontier forbids political topics. It is their right to do so because it's their forum and everybody has to obey if they want to stay here. It was their choice and theirs alone. But what if a government forbade Frontier having a political topics here. Or if you did, just because you can't deal with it. Then a generally bad thing that should be dealt with suddenly turns into an oppression. That was my point.
 

Zetta

Zetta
Chris Simon said:
People always knew they don't have to tolerate abuse. It's just that in the old days, they usually did something about it themselves. Nowadays they demand protection, because they're unable or unwilling to deal with it themselves.
It makes them weaker and it makes the world a worse place to live in. If you protect your freedom by taking it from another, the outcome is totalitarian and punitive.

My point is - if you demand genralized punishment for offensive, abusive behaviour on the internet, who is to decide what's offensive or abusive? You? If something's offensive to you, it's up to you to deal with it but nothing more.
Click to expand...

In the old days... you have got to be kidding me!?

Only someone with no clue of how the world used to be could state such a thing. You only have to look at how well that worked out for black people, gay people, beaten wives, mentally or physically disabled people, sexual abuse victims etc. They all just pulled their socks up and did something about it... fraking lol.

People "demand" protection because they want the other person(s) to be held to account, that is called justice. What you're saying is that people should take the law into their own hands.

Chris Simon said:
It makes them weaker and it makes the world a worse place to live in. If you protect your freedom by taking it from another, the outcome is totalitarian and punitive.
Click to expand...

No, the only people who make the world a worse place are the perpetrators.

If someone doesn't want their freedom to be taken away from them, they have to abide by socities rules and laws. It's only by breaking those laws that they lose their freedom.
 
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