Description:

Our session proposes to map the topics, challenges and opportunities in the nascent field of video games policy, and its balance with the exercise of human rights in online gaming and digital distribution platforms. From monetization practices, online content moderation, games as a medium for political participation and activism, perceived violence in video games, intellectual property, freedom of expression, and so forth, this workshop aims to present the landscape of the more relevant issues in the video games industry, and its projection onto internet governance. Growth in the number of gamers and availability of new technologies brings new challenges to human rights. Online games and platforms are akin to social networks, functioning as virtual places where people gather, interact and communicate. In this context, the rights to free association, free expression, privacy, political participation and others are attaining increased relevance. Last year, Activision Blizzard's decision of banning a professional player for showing support to the Hong Kong cause was met with a political firestorm and extensive PR backlash. Without a doubt, video games are becoming increasingly political, not only in their themes (with titles such as This War of Mine or Bury me, my Love), but as novel spaces for activism and dissent. From hidden libraries in Minecraft to demonstrations in Animal Crossing that got the game banned in China, this has become even more relevant in social distancing times. When physical gathering is restrained, political dissent translates itself into staging creative online protests. Moreover, social play is thriving, tearing down geographical and physical barriers, through massive online multiplayer games, augmented reality, game related communities and streaming platforms. With issues around public and private censorship, ethical development, gender-based discrimination, automated content moderation, loot-boxes, consumer rights or digital property, cases are coming up with respect to the rules for the governance of those digital spaces. Moving from single player experiences to online gaming has allowed an unprecedented gathering of player’s data, that is fueling new artificial intelligence implementations. This adds a new layer of complexity, bringing legal and ethical challenges on its own, from automated content moderation for toxicity, privacy, to transparency and bias, that would be addressed specifically in this session for the video game context. In terms of real-world violence, video games have historically been used as a scapegoat for complex crimes, leading to public pressure to regulate content in ways incompatible with freedom of expression’ standards. The unfortunate circumstances surrounding Christchurch's massacre gave rise to another wave of video game blaming, media disinformation and public outcry. Amidst this complex landscape, our session will focus on the challenges identified by analyzing recent cases in which video games have intersected human rights, as well as regulatory trends from governments, as a way to collaborate in informed policy-making. Finally, we will engage in discussions of how already proposed frameworks for human rights-based content moderation (such as those elaborated by Access Now, the Santa Clara principles, and other groups) could be applied to video games policy.