In the ADL’s report card, Fortnite was given an F in dealing with complaints of holocaust denial.
The Anti-Defamation League has awarded Fortnite an F rank in combatting antisemitism on the platform, the lowest score of all the games and services it researched. This puts it below Call of Duty and League of Legends, as the ADL says Fortnite failed to combat reports of holocaust denial in every department.
Call of Duty didn’t fare much better. Activision Blizzard was given a D- for its efforts, coming under fire for not having an explicit policy against holocaust denial, and failing to address the complaints of average users in a timely manner.
This criticism is part of the ADL’s regular report card it puts together on the issue of online antisemitism (thanks, gamesindustry.biz). This is the first time that these video games have been included in the report card, showing that some of the biggest titles are falling far below expectations.
“Holocaust deniers have used social media and game platforms to spread their virulent ideas and garner support,” reads the ADL report. “For our 2023 report card, we added three major online multiplayer games, where we found multiple usernames with Holocaust denial references. League of Legends was the only one of these game platforms that responded and took action when usernames were reported by an ordinary user.”
No platform reviewed scored higher than a C+ in its efforts to remove denial content. Check out the new scorecard and our recommendations for platforms. https://t.co/rgHZs5DbfR
— ADL (@ADL) April 10, 2023
In the report, the ADL shares examples of the antisemitism it discovered on each platform. In Fortnite, League of Legends, and Call of Duty, this would take the form of usernames featuring hateful slurs or outright denials of the holocaust. Sometimes this was as explicit as featuring the phrase “Holohoax”, something which should be fairly easy to filter out of online games.
One success story from the last report is Roblox. In 2021, the ADL found that users were able to easily get around moderation efforts, posting content that encouraged the destruction of synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship. This was not the case in 2023, however, suggesting that the service has responded to these complaints.
None of the games included in the 2023 report card had a policy against holocaust denial, although it’s likely that instances of this would fall under existing rules against hate speech on the platform. It’s just a matter of having this policy enforced.
All in all, it seems that online games will have to improve in responding to the complaints made by average users, not just representatives of big organizations like the ADL. It remains to be seen if any of the companies in this report respond to the claims being made, particularly Epic, as it was awarded the lowest score of all companies that were investigated.
