Document details

Counter Recruiting in the Online Gaming Community

Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2023), 9 pp.

Series: Policy Brief, 163

"Organisations ranging from violent extremist groups to the US Army have used online gaming, a popular form of entertainment among the world’s youth, for recruiting purposes. To date, efforts to curtail online recruiting have been siloed to reduce recruitment of certain groups, such as violent extremist groups, or aimed at specific platforms, such as certain online games geared for children. Efforts to address online recruitment in gaming have engaged with governments, NGOs, and the gaming industry, leaving out gamers themselves. This Policy Brief describes why recruiting in online gaming should be understood as a more general problem, involving any armed group recruiting online, which has simple solutions. It then presents several concepts from peacebuilding that can be applied to counter recruiting efforts in online gaming." (Abstract)