The addiction to gaming on devices has overtaken even the Hollywood film industry in terms of monetary value. This level is expected to reach $196 billion in the year 2023. These digital platforms are becoming the basis for extremists to recruit children, teenagers and adults in their support. Given this situation, there is unprecedented collaboration between counter-terrorism experts and gaming companies. To discuss this growing threat, UN News' Sarah Daly spoke with Steven Sequeira, Deputy Director of the UN Counter-Terrorism Center, and the United Nations Exclusive conversation with Leif Wildsen, Acting Director of the National Institute on Crime and Justice Research (UNICRI). The Center for Counter-Terrorism is part of the UN Office on Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT). Senior UN officials hosted a key event on the topic, New Quest Unlocked, held in early December, bringing together gaming companies, policy makers and researchers, "Dangerous trends call for a collaborative research approach, both within the gaming industry and across similar platforms," said Steven Sequeira, a member of the Global Forum on Combating Violent Extremism in Gaming Spaces. He also shared information about how extremist groups are increasingly targeting gaming venues and similar platforms – Discord and Telegram. This interview has been edited for clarity ...UN News: Your joint programme, New Quest Unlocked, brought together UNICRI and UNOCT as well as gaming companies, policy makers and researchers. What inspired this collaboration?Steven Sequeira: Last year, i.e. in 2023, the monetary value of the gaming industry and surrounding platforms was $196 billion. By comparison, the Hollywood film industry was worth approximately $40 billion, so the gaming industry is five times the size of the film industry. Young people are being accessed by terrorist and violent extremist groups through these platforms, and on Discord, Telegram and And promotional videos are increasingly appearing on TikTok. This dangerous trend has given rise to the need to research and work together with the gaming industry, related platforms and, of course, our members and the governments of member countries. UN News : : Recent intelligence reports indicate that the level of threat is higher than previously understood. What exactly are you seeing?Steven Sequeira: While there are many positive aspects of gaming in terms of social connection around the world – there is also a growing risk that terrorist and violent extremist groups will use it to spread their message. The results are shocking: in Australia alone, almost one in five counter-terrorism cases now involve young people, and every investigated case involved a gaming platform. role of Hai.un News: These findings challenge common misconceptions about gaming platforms. How has this situation arisen?Steven Sequeira: The gaming industry is not only open to young people. The average age of gamers is increasing and boys and girls and men and women are almost equally active now compared to previous years. UN News: Your research focuses specifically on the gaming market in Africa. Why is this region so important in understanding future challenges?Leif Wildsen: Africa has indeed become one of the fastest growing markets for mobile games. With an unprecedented year-on-year growth rate of 11 percent, the continent represents both an extraordinary opportunity and a potential vulnerability. Our goal is to improve our understanding of the industry, the communities, the strategies used, and the threat it poses across the continent. UN News: You are developing something called 'Gaming Intelligence' as part of global prevention strategies. How will this change digital security?Leif Wildsen: Gaming intelligence focuses on tracking extremist content and recruitment activities from open-source platforms such as games, chat, and social media. This intelligence will inform early warning systems, helping to detect and prevent radicalization at an early stage. UN News: How important is artificial intelligence to these global prevention measures? Leif Wildsen: We are part of the ecosystem Given the size, we want to develop and experiment with AI-based tools to edit and modify advanced content within standards. It is important that we engage with the gaming community, private sector companies and work with the gamers themselves to educate and build resilience in communities. UN News: What are the concrete outcomes as we enter the new year 2025 , which will make the gaming space safer?Leif Wildesen: By creating shared global standards and encouraging collaboration between governments, technology companies and civil society, we can provide a framework to tackle these threats in a more coordinated way. Steven Sequeira: The Global Digital Compact recognizes these dual realities of the digital age and calls for a unified global commitment to ensure that digital spaces are safe, inclusive and consistent with human rights principles. Ultimately, the gaming system To find the right actors who have a strong voice, but who are also open to understanding what the risk is and where and how to reduce the risk. This can really help us make the gaming ecosystem stronger and more resilient to violent extremism.
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