Steam doesn't enforce its own rules, so "hate groups" are proliferating there - "decrying feminism" should be a bannable offense, says Wes Fenlon

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Two days ago, Wes Fenlon of PC Gamer, known for articles such as "Let's talk about politics in video games" published an article about Steam and the presence of "hate groups" dedicated to glorifying school shootings, anti-feminism and antisemitism.

He then went on to compare terms of service for Xbox Live and PSN, and concluded that Valve and Sony don't use enough censorship with their social features that barely anyone uses anyway.

In the end he says that if you like InfoWars or dislike feminism, or if you have a Pepe (meme co-opted by white supremacists and turned into hate symbol, may I remind you) profile picture, you should at least be banned.

https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-has-a-hate-group-problem-because-valve-fails-to-enforce-its-own-rules/
 
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I just use the storefront. I've only posted once because I had login issues. The only time I read the forums is when someone links something lolworthy. Pepe isn't a white supremacist symbol and people shouldn't be banned for using him as an avatar.

Haramburger said:
Swastika & iron cross avatars on profiles and group pages are not that big of a deal. If you want them removed, then we're killing all the trans flags too.
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That's transphobia and you will be sent to the Death Camp of Tolerance.:mad:

Steam isn't tumblr. Just buy your games and shut up. Why does everything need to be a safe space now? People are still being triggered by crudely drawn cartoon frogs. I can't believe it.
 
Agent Toucan said:
Just wait until you see his face. What a stud!

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236205-57083-alfred-e-neuman.jpg


Seriously, I don't think we'll ever find a more Alfred E Neuman looking motherfucker than this guy.
 
Douglas Reynholm said:
I'll give him a pass because he looks like a special fellow. But spank my ass and call me Sally, if you keep stumbling upon these groups on Steam it isn't an accident. You're actively searching for it, which is fair game if it's for laughs but not if it's an excuse to get offended about something simply to write a shoddy article.
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Damn, you even sound like Douglass.
 
Valve won't magically scour all groups and profiles, they aren't proactive.

They depend on reports, LEGIBLE reports via profile and group pages.

A forum report does jack shit unless a moderator takes notice (they won't, the report backlog is beyond ridiculous) and then you have to keep in mind individual game forums are either assigned their own third party moderators or are left lawless as a squatter paradise.

At that point a moderator would have to issue a report on the party's profile, which is what the offended user should have done in the first place.

Now lets say they do things the proper way, you create a backlog of reports which have to be evaluated to see if its a serious matter or some trivial trigger.

Add to it the user's constant bitching at every little thing and you can guess why Valve doesn't offer direct ways of communication.
 
I like Steam's hands-off approach. They do know there are radical leftie groups on Steam, right?
 
I don't get what the problem is here. I would have to go out of my way to join one of these groups as there is no news feed that says hey 'look at my hate group'.

In essence where would I even see these groups on steam unless I looked for them.

The author even states it in his article:

and a quick search will reveal plenty of these groups are still around, untouched by moderation.
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Y2K Baby said:
I like Steam's hands-off approach. They do know there are radical leftie groups on Steam, right?
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Of course they do, and they want it all to themselves. We've seen this time and time again with places like youtube, google, twitch, discord, twitter, etc. Until steam caves to peer pressure and goes full 1984, the soyboy army will keep screeching and writing clickbait articles on how steam is the new recruiting ground for nazis and that steam is a big nazi.
 
Y2K Baby said:
I like Steam's hands-off approach. They do know there are radical leftie groups on Steam, right?
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LazloChalos said:
Oh they know, believe me.
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That reminds me that like literally yesterday I was checking up the steam account of a guy I used to play with a few years back and I see his featured group is an antifa steam group

Probably also worth mentioning that it turns out he's a furry troon, so...
 
PC Gamer is over. PC Gamer doesn't have to be your magazine.

Srsly though, Trotter wouldn't have put up with this shit. I think he was with PC Gamer. Or maybe that was CGW.
 
If only Microsoft put in as much effort to banning hackers on Call of Duty as they did into banning edgy shitposting hate groups.
 
I wonder how many skellingtons are in the closet of a numale who literally wants to ban criticism of feminism. Male feminists have a...known proclivity towards certain less than consensual encounters.
 
I would like to take this opportunity to pledge my support for the emotion of hate. It gets a bad rap from stupid people who think human beings can fundamentally be improved in some way, but hate is a powerful and useful emotion, if a volatile one. And at any rate, there's nothing we can do about it.

Every time I see someone talk about "eradicating hate" I sigh internally. They actually think it's possible and that we're just one censoring away from Utopia. These are fucking dangerous people.
 
frozenrunner said:
I would like to take this opportunity to pledge my support for the emotion of hate. It gets a bad rap from stupid people who think human beings can fundamentally be improved in some way, but hate is a powerful and useful emotion, if a volatile one. And at any rate, there's nothing we can do about it.

Every time I see someone talk about "eradicating hate" I sigh internally. They actually think it's possible and that we're just one censoring away from Utopia. These are fucking dangerous people.
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Not to get into a philosophical discussion or anything, but I do agree. Usually the people decrying hate are just saying it should be directed elsewhere. "Don't hate me, hate him".

Anyway, on topic, I used to be a huge fan of PC Gamer UK. I still have piles of them at home and if I weren't a little strapped for cash I'd still be a subscriber. A few years ago I really wanted to be a writer for them (I still would. DM me) so it's annoying to see them tendrils of social justice infiltrating a publication I actually have feelings toward. Hopefully this article gets slapped down like the uppity tantrums of a toddler it is.
 
Dysnomia said:
I just use the storefront. I've only posted once because I had login issues. The only time I read the forums is when someone links something lolworthy. Pepe isn't a white supremacist symbol and people shouldn't be banned for using him as an avatar.



That's transphobia and you will be sent to the Death Camp of Tolerance.:mad:

Steam isn't tumblr. Just buy your games and shut up. Why does everything need to be a safe space now? People are still being triggered by crudely drawn cartoon frogs. I can't believe it.
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One funny thing as far as Pepe goes: the area I'm in no doubt despises Trump. A newspaper made by some college students, with all its edge and lite Communism/whatever it was, used a Pepe image that wasn't even "racist". That sort of thing should at least give one the idea that maybe some meme frog isn't as racist as some people hyped it up to be. Then again, some people can't look at Pepe without thinking "Nazi".

As for safe space, people should just simply use the tools they got like block and such. But some will probably think that won't be enough.

Jaiman said:
I think Steam should focus more on fucking monitoring their library than throwing the banhammer on the four or five existing users who post racist content.
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That isn't important to some people as much as getting rid of cartoon frog avatars to protect feelings.
 
I hope these hate groups proliferate to the point they drive the real hate groups, like the social justice tards, out of steam.
 
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