Toxic chats are part of the diversity problem in eSports. Moderator Marius Lauer therefore calls for decisive intervention on the part of publishers and platforms.
“If a woman is streaming, it seems that not only a switch flips in some people – a complete nuclear power plant goes off. There are comments coming out that no one can imagine,”
Chats in games are again and again a place for verbal assaults, discrimination and racism. Those who suffer most are women, people of colour and people on the LGBTIQA+ spectrum. A diverse eSport thus hardly seems possible.
“Everyone is responsible for what happens on their platform,” Lauer points to the duty of the operators. Publishers and companies would not do enough to stop hatespeech and clear criminal offences.
Only harsh penalties make statements
The commentator and presenter follows up in the Talk, calling for staff to meticulously track chats, record offences and bring them to police attention. Account or console bans his not an effective means of combating discrimination and assault in chat as these can be reacquired or created with ease.
“It doesn’t stop people from doing it. But if a punishment comes from above, because I put responsible people at a company there, who say I’ll go to the police and see to it that the ads go through, […] then I make a statement with it.”
At present, there are hardly any ways to report crimes directly via the corresponding portals. Reporting processes, such as those integrated by Instagram, are far too opaque.
“This is a very precarious situation. It can’t be that I need a doctorate to click through the reporting processes,” Lauer said at the end of his incendiary speech.
Lauer is not alone in his demand for financial resources for prosecution. Also eSports columnist Erhan ‘Dr. Erhano’ Kayman calls for tough prosecution for online offences in comments and chats.
