Defenders of gamers are using social media to shine the spotlight on a professor who has capitalized — handsomely — by cozying up to DEI warriors who see extremists in every nook and cranny of the video game world.
Mark Kern, who helped design the wildly popular and enduring massive multiplayer video game “World of Warcraft,” presented a summary of what’s going on in a post on X.
“This is a doozy. There is a DEI Professor who has quietly raised a million dollars in grants over the past week, capitalizing on the Sweet Baby Inc. controversy,” Kern posted on X. “Homeland Security and the Canadian gov all announced programs to ‘investigate gamers’ this past week, and it all ties back to this one, now very flush academic. In my next tweet in this thread, I’m going to link the incredible research @MadamSavvy has done to unravel this Doctor’s elaborate funding scheme. @DrKowert, the gamers have found you and your efforts to falsely attack gamers is now exposed.”
This is a doozy. There is a DEI Professor who has quietly raised a million dollars in grants over the the past week, capitalizing on the Sweet Baby Inc. controversy.
Homeland Security and the Canadian gov all announced programs to “investigate gamers” this past week, and it all… pic.twitter.com/sIlNQ0dMdt
— Grummz (@Grummz) March 14, 2024
As another poster noted, tracing the collection of voices calling out extremism is a version of the old adage to follow the money, as well as the power of censorship.
“I’ve connected government funding, the ADL, election monitors, and even social media companies to this network that aims to “monitor” “extremism” and create just, equitable spaces online,” another prominent video game content creator posted on X.
I’ve put together a 3:30min video summarizing the current @SweetBabyInc debacle. I’ve connected government funding, the ADL, election monitors, and even social media companies to this network that aims to “monitor” “extremism” and create just, equitable spaces online.
Threads… pic.twitter.com/vWMiZMcT8o
— Savvy | Artist (@MadamSavvy) March 17, 2024
— Savvy | Artist (@MadamSavvy) March 17, 2024
In another post, that same content creator noted that criticism of gamers comes from a closed ecosystem of experts.
“Overwhelmingly, there are many ‘far right extremist’ ‘experts’, with several studying ‘international far right extremism’. These are the people Dr. Rachel Kowert works with and has access to, and she was the one who wrote the blog post for Take This Org linking the Kotaku article, defending @sweetbabyInc and calling on everyone to ‘denounce’ gamergate and toxicity and hate in gaming,” she wrote, noting the reaction that took place after the content provider Sweet Baby inc. was the object of protests from gamers.
“Dr. Kowert is involved in 2 government grant-funded projects (so far that i know of), one awarding 669k USD from the DHS for a 2 year study, and the second being 317k CAD from the Minister of Public Safety, Dominic LeBlanc, both targeting “extremism and radicalization in gaming and online communities,” she wrote.
🧵 Today, I will unpack some of the members of the Extremism + Gaming Research Network, the collection of members who were recently awarded over $300k CAD by the Canadian Government. In my previous thread, I highlighted and talked about Dr. Rachel Kowert’s connection to them, but…
— Savvy | Artist (@MadamSavvy) March 16, 2024
A summary for the uninitiated, with a slightly jaundiced view that leans in support of gamers against the forces of regulation, is offered on That Park Place.
The cycle goes something like this. Sweet Baby Inc. injects DEI story lines in games it helps create, whether they fit the plot or weigh it down with liberal dross. This in turn provokes gamers to engage in an uprising against content they do not like by calling out games that are so busy saving the world they are just no fun to play.
Enter government, stage left, with money.
Do you think the government should spend resources investigating gamers?
The money funds researchers and pundits who can reinforce that already-accepted notion that right-wing extremists are lurking behind every video console, and that public attitudes and public money are necessary to squish what to others might appear to be a First Amendment right to howl by painting the complainers as extremists out to mold the souls of everyone who plays a game into something wicked.
Meanwhile, the Government Accountability Office issued a report in January about gaming and extremism, saying some very heavy hitters need to start pounding away against extremism.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have mechanisms to share and receive domestic violent extremism threat related information with social media and gaming companies,” the report said. “However, neither agency has developed a strategy that articulates how it identifies and selects companies to engage with or the goals and desired outcomes of those engagements.”
The report had two key recommendations.
“The Director of the FBI should develop a strategy and goals for sharing information related to domestic violent extremism with social media and gaming companies,” it proposed.
“The Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis should develop a strategy and goals for sharing information related to domestic violent extremism with social media and gaming companies,” it wrote.
