NCTC Discovers That Online Gaming Platforms Have Chats, Image Sharing

Overhype

from the no-shit dept

The rush to blame video games for all the world’s ills is, of course, nothing new. While some of the more novel examples of this blame-game include current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s claim that video games are the reason the Medicaid is abused (yes, seriously), this nonsense is more commonly trotted out whenever violence is committed, typically for mass shootings. It’s irresponsible and not based on anything remotely resembling scientific data and it should stop.

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s horrific murder, we got to see this once again in action. The shooter’s video game platform accounts and gaming habits were scrutinized, as was his communications on Discord. And then came bumblefuck RFK Jr. with the typical level of stupidity.

The suspected shooter and his apparent connections to gaming and internet culture raised questions about whether the White House or Congress might respond with greater scrutiny of those communities. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy recently suggested that the government should investigate connections between first-person shooters and mass shootings.

The Kirk shooting wasn’t a mass shooting. There is no concrete research to suggest that one of the most popular genres in gaming somehow leads people to shoot many people at once. The suspect doesn’t appear to have been deeply steeped in first-person shooters anyway. Kennedy’s comments, in other words, are essentially a non-sequitur. Par for the course.

But Republican Kentucky Rep. Brett Guthrie managed to get in on the action himself, as did Democract Ro Khanna.

“I haven’t specifically discussed that with anyone, but I think that we should look at how video [games] affect young people,” said Guthrie. “I think that’s a fair thing. We’ve spent a lot of time on kids’ online safety, and that could be a part of that.”

California Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat who recently made headlines for calling on the developers of Roblox to protect children who play their game, also suggested that he would be open to a congressional probe into video games.

“We’ve got to have much more regulation on social media, and I think we need to look at video games and the harm they cause in terms of getting young men addicted, and being intellectually draining,” he told Courthouse News.

Subsequent to all of that, a briefing from the National Counter Terrorism Center leaked with what must be one of most “no shit” type of briefings possible. In it, the NCTC attempts to raise the alarm over the fact that games, gaming platforms, and game-focused chat platforms offer ways for gamers to communicate with one another. Clutch your pearls, dear readers.

If someone can explain what in any of this is new, please go for it. I’ll wait. And while you’re doing that, please notice just how many caveats and hedges there are in this document. Some violent extremist US teens “probably” play these games and “could” communicate with people that think like them.

Well, no fucking shit, guys! Adults can do all of that, too! As can perfectly peaceful individuals. Or they could communicate via phone, or chat message platforms like Google’s or Microsoft’s! Hell, they might even meet up at the local playground and talk about all kinds of wild shit. I sure did when I was younger. And there are a ton of people that use these platforms and manage not to shoot anyone at all. It’s almost like, and I hope you’re sitting down for this, none of these platforms are some common denominator for violence.

Which isn’t really the point. The point of the briefing is to give government a document to point to in order to further infringe on the privacy and communications of every day citizens.

This kind of analysis provides a pretext for surveillance of ordinary activities. It transforms mundane behavior like playing Fortnite into an indicator of extremism. It’s the same logic that justifies infiltrating activist groups and maintaining massive databases of people who’ve done nothing wrong. And definitely did fuck all to stop the murder of Charlie Kirk. But that doesn’t matter, because when the intelligence community is tempted with a new massive data set to gorge on, there’s no stopping the feast.

Yes, that. This nothing-burger of a briefing will end up being twisted to allow the surveillance state to hone in on their political enemies. None of this has a single thing to do with Charlie Kirk’s murder, nor any other violent activity. It will be used selectively, similar to our Mad King’s recent comments about using the government shutdown to shutter “democrat agencies” or further reduce their workforce.

All under the vulgar and cynical banner of doing this all in Charlie Kirk’s name.

Filed Under: blame game, brett guthrie, nctc, rfk jr., ro khanna, video games
Companies: blizzard, discord, microsoft, roblox, sony, valve