In an industry that has outgrown Hollywood in sheer monetary value – reaching $196 billion in 2023 – these digital platforms are becoming recruitment grounds for extremists, prompting an unprecedented collaboration between counter terrorism specialists and gaming companies.
To discuss the growing threat, UN News’s Sarah Daly sat down with Steven Siqueira, Deputy Director of the UN Counter Terrorism Centre (part of the counter-terrorism office, UNOCT) and Leif Villadsen, Acting Director of the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI).
The senior officials hosted a landmark event on the issue called New Quest Unlocked held earlier in December, which brought together gaming companies, policymakers and researchers to address violent extremism in gaming spaces.
“The alarming trend has necessitated a collaborative research approach with the gaming industry and adjacent platforms,” Mr. Siqueira said, highlighting how extremist groups are increasingly targeting gaming spaces and adjacent platforms like Discord and Telegram.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
UN News: Your joint event, New Quest Unlocked, brought together both UNICRI and UNOCT as well as gaming companies, policymakers and researchers. What prompted this collaboration?
Steven Siqueira: Last year in 2023, the gaming industry and adjacent platforms was a $196 billion industry. By comparison the movie industry was about 40 billion, so it’s five times the size of the movie industry.
Young people are being reached by terrorists and violent extremist groups through these platforms, with propaganda videos increasingly appearing across Discord, Telegram and Tiktok. This alarming trend necessitated collaborative research and working together with the gaming industry, adjacent platforms and of course, our members and member governments.
UN News: Recent intelligence reports suggest the threat level is higher than previously understood. What exactly are you seeing?
Steven Siqueira: While gaming has many positive aspects in terms of social interaction around the world – there’s also increasing risk that terrorists and violent extremist groups are using these platforms and the gaming adjacent platforms to get their message out.
The findings are stark: in Australia alone, approximately one in five counter-terrorism cases now involve young people, with gaming platforms playing a role in every investigated case.