U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan sent a letter to Valve boss Gabe Newell expressing concern about "extremist content" on Steam and asking what Valve is doing to combat the Nazism, white supremacy, misogyny, and other "

"As the most popular and largest digital distribution platform for computer video games, including online community and communication features, Steam has significant national and global reach and is used by computer video game Steam is used by computer video game players of all ages," Hassan wrote in a letter published on Vice (opens in new tab).

"Disturbingly, there are a significant number of users on Steam who display or endorse neo-Nazi, extremist, racial supremacist, misogynist, and other hateful sentiments, especially given Valve's relationship between online comments and violence in the offline world, Steps should be taken to prevent harmful content. Extremist content on Steam found in keyword searches using terms and images commonly associated with neo-Nazi, extremist, and racial supremacist ideologies is pervasive."

Hassan noted the "obvious and explicit" use of the well-known neo-Nazi term "88" to refer to HH (Heil Hitler) in user accounts and community groups, and the common use of symbols, images and language associated with the Third Reich The report cites the following. The prevalence of such content is "extremely concerning, especially given the popularity that Valve current enjoys over its competitors in the video game digital distribution ecosystem," Hassan wrote. The unmoderated presence of "[a] hateful and harmful ideology" is keeping many users from participating in the community for fear of harassment, abuse, and intimidation, Hassan says. Worse, allowing such ideologies to go unchecked opens the door to "the very real threat of violence in offline physical spaces."

"A recent report by the Anti-Defamation League found that 'nearly one in ten gamers ages 13 to 17 have been exposed to white supremacist ideology or themes in online multiplayer games,'" she wrote. She writes.

"With extremist ideologies and anti-Semitic violence on the rise around the world, it is incumbent on companies to monitor the content that users bring to their products.

After stating her point, Hassan posed a question to Valve: does the content she cited in her letter violate Steam's terms of service, and if so, what exactly is Valve doing to find and shut it down?

"Opposing the spread of extremist and racist activity online is an important thing that everyone can agree on, and ensuring that online entertainment spaces are safe and welcoming for everyone should be a top priority for video game manufacturers and distributors." Hassan wrote. She asked Valve to respond to her inquiry by January 15, 2023. [While Steam is not the second coming of the Daily Stormer, there is plenty of Nazi-inspired content among its users, groups, and game titles. Some of it is clearly hilarious, but it can be hard to draw the line, especially if you are young, isolated, and online a lot.

Steam has faced this criticism before; in 2018 we noted that Steam embraces hate groups (opens in new tab). Other platforms for online communities have faced similar criticism; Discord was also taken to task in 2018 (opens in new tab).

Valve is not the only gaming company facing tough questions again from US politicians about extremist content. Axi (opens in new tab)os reports that seven Democrats have asked Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Epic, Innersloth, Microsoft, PUBG Corp, Riot Games, Roblox, Sony , Square, Take-Two Interactive, Tencent, Ubisoft, and Valve, inquiring about their processes for dealing with extremism and harassment in online gaming, and signing a similar letter "requesting consideration of security measures related to anti-harassment and anti-extremism measures." The company said. The author of the letter asked for a response by January 9.

We have asked Valve to comment on Hassan's letter and will update if we receive a response.