U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) has questioned whether Valve is committed to combating extremism on Steam.
As spotted by The Verge, Warner sent a letter to Valve co-founder Gabe Newell to raise concerns over the "hate and extremism" that has allegedly been allowed to fester on Steam, and suggested the platform holder has "chosen to continue a 'hands off'-type approach to content moderation" that allows some to engage in "sustained bouts of disturbing and violent rhetoric."
Warner's letter references a new Anti-Defamation League (ADL) report, which claims Steam now contains over 1 million unique user accounts and 100,000 user-created groups that glorify "antisemitic, Nazi, white supremacist, gender-and sexuality-based hate, and other extremist ideologies."
He notes that Valve has previously been made aware of the issue via a Senate letter sent in 2022 but has seemingly failed to directly address the problem, and believes the company has avoided wider scrutiny despite being comparable in size to some of the largest social media networks.
"Steam is the largest single online gaming digital distribution and social networking platform in the world with over 10 million unique user accounts and a userbase similar in scale to that of the 'traditional' social media and social network platforms," he wrote.
"Steam is financially successful, with a dominant position in its sector, and makes Valve billions of dollars in annual revenue. Until now, Steam has largely not received its due attention as a de facto major social network where its users engage in many of the same activities expected of a social media platform.
"[...] It is reasonable to question how committed Valve is to effectively implement and enforce Valve's own, self-created Conduct Policy for its users, in light of the 1 million Steam user accounts and 100,000 user-created groups glorifying hateful ideologies that ADL found."
Warner stated that "lax enforcement of the letter of user conduct agreements" on other social networks, combined with a "seeming reluctance" by those companies to embrace the spirt of those same agreements, has elevated harassment and abuse. With that in mind, he claimed Valve should be doing more to protect users, rather than leaving them vulnerable to harassment, intimidations and ridicule.
"As Black Friday and the holiday buying season approaches, the American public should know that not only is Steam an unsafe place for teens and young adults to purchase and play online games, but also that, absent a change in Valve's approach of user moderation and hate type of behavior that it welcomes on its platform, Steam is playing a clear role in allowing harmful ideologies to spread and take root among the next generation," he added.
"Valve must bring its content moderation practices in line with industry standards or face more intense scrutiny from the federal government for its complicity in allowing hate groups to congregate and engage in activities that undoubtedly puts Americans at risk."
Warner has requested Valve and Newell answer a series of questions before December 13, 2024, so he can better understand how the company is approaching content moderation.
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