According to a recent report, more than 50 percent of gamers around the world have engaged in at least some form of cyberbullying or online harassment. There currently are just under three billion active players out of a global population of nearly eight billion, meaning that roughly 20 percent of people have taken part in these harmful activities at some point during their lives.
“With the growth of online gaming communities, there has also been a rise in racism and hate speech on online gaming platforms,” the study pointed out. When it comes to methodology, the group which published the report, Preply, surveyed a population of “1,400 gamers to learn more about their exposure to hate speech on gaming platforms as well their own language usage and experience on these platforms.” The population included “58 perfect of respondents who identified as male and 42 percent who identified as female. The average age was 36. 71 percent identified as heterosexual, 21 percent as bisexual, 6 percent as homosexual, and 2 percent as other.” Committed and casual gamers were both represented in the survey.
“More than half of respondents admitted to taking part in bullying others while playing video games,” the report indicates before adding that “of those who have, 85 percent have been blocked, muted, reported, or banned for it. Bullies often used racism, doxxing, and swatting to attack their victims. These victims were most often targeted for their gender, sexual identity, or religion.”
The study found that bullies are frequently bullied in turn. “Interestingly, 92 percent of those who admit to bullying have been bullied by others,” the study noted. “90 percent state that experiencing bullying takes a mental toll.”
Players appear to be especially bad in certain genres of game. The report summarizes that “if this sounds like an environment you’d like to avoid, steer clear of shooters and multiplayer online battle arena games. According to our survey, bullies occupy 52 percent and 45 percent of those hostile realms, respectively.”
Some of the other key takeaways from the study are that “90 percent of respondents have experienced or witnessed emotional abuse or bullying while playing video games” and that “nearly seven in ten have considered quitting because of what they’ve witnessed.” The survey also notes that “more than two in five have experienced racism and more than one in four have experienced hate speech on gaming platforms.” The most worrisome finding would have to be that “nearly one in five have experienced extremist content on gaming platforms.”
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