So, I know that Facebook doesn’t really have a whole lot to do with video games (yes you can play games on it, but the sole purpose is not intended for that!), but while browsing through the daily news I found an article that I had to write about. Soraya Chemaly of Feminism is Fantastic wrote an opinion article for CNN about Facebook’s refusal to remove content from the site that promoted rape culture. While the content clearly violates Facebook’s terms ad conditions, it is still allowed to be posted despite users requests to have the content removed. Chemaly has been part of a movement working that is working to get Facebook to start removing this kind of content, #FBrape has been the hashtag they’ve been using on Twitter to raise awareness and encourage advertisers to remove their ads from Facebook until some action is taken.
As a part of this campaign Chemaly spent time contacting Facebook and asking why it is that this content is still allowed even though it violates the terms and conditions and what she found was “the only conclusion could be that individual moderators were interpreting the polices in ways that were gender biased.” It’s not that Facebook doesn’t have the policies in place, it’s that they haven’t been properly used. After months of hounding Facebook and petitioning advertisers Chemlay has finally seen a result:
“In a rare statement on its site on Wednesday, Facebook responded, noting that its “systems to identify and remove hate speech have failed to work as effectively” as they would like and they pledging to evaluate and update policies, guidelines and practices relating to hate speech. The company acknowledged the importance of improving training for content moderators (the focus of our requests), so they are better able to understand gender-based hate.”
While this is only a piece of the amazing article Chemlay wrote for CNN and just a tiny glimpse into the real problem at hand, this whole thing got me thinking: where are the video game development studios and publishers in this debacle? Why haven’t they been forced to step forward like this? Microsoft has to know that they created a space, Xbox Live, where rape culture is promoted on a daily basis. While users can be reported, blocked, and banned it does very little to diminish the amount of death and rape threats that surround women who submit themselves to the online/multiplayer universe in video games.
It also makes me wonder if Microsoft has people in place to decide whether or not the reasoning for a user being blocked/banned is reasonable and whether or not this gender bias takes a role in the consequences that are or are not dealt out to players that have been reported. If Facebook can publicly outcry the rape culture that has such a presence in their online communities why can’t Sony and Microsoft? There have been moments when these companies have come out to decry these kinds of threats, but it’s usually done in a vague manner that doesn’t truly address the issue at hand.
So where do we go from here? Do we have to start a campaign to get advertisers to threaten too pull their ads if something bigger isn’t done? Why are such extreme measures necessary to see action at all? Hopefully this next generation of consoles will see a better and more efficient response to the death and rape threats that are so predominant on the online aspects of console gaming.
