At the Extremism and Gaming Research Network (EGRN), we bring together world-leading counter-extremism researchers, practitioners, and policy makers together with the private sector to develop solutions for the exploitation of online gaming by terrorists and violent extremists. Set up as a practitioner-led initiative in 2021 to counter new online harms and lead evidence-driven solutions, today the EGRN convenes over 80 members, ranging from United Nations agencies to think tanks and private sector organizations. Through our partnerships, the EGRN is at the center of emerging research and analysis while impacting policy and tech design. We work to promote realistic, non-stigmatizing research and programs with a clear focus on using gaming for good. By working collaboratively across academia and practitioners, we advise tech platforms and governments alike to help gaming communities become inclusive, diverse online spaces while curbing the impact of harmful online content.
The EGRN leads evidence-based research at the nexus between gaming and extremism while providing effective solutions for various public and private stakeholders. Our members work to evidence the ways in which gaming is used by malign actors for harm, and also the opportunities to use gaming for good to counter harm. Core to this is our collaborative work with gaming platforms to create resilience-building solutions for gamers.
There is no other initiative dedicated to convening cross-sector actors to prevent violent extremism and foster resilience among gamer communities. Our focus, scope, and breadth of convening power is our unique strength: we are dedicated to keeping gaming fun while pushing back against extremism and online harms. Similar initiatives, such as the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), participate in the EGRN, allowing us to achieve substantial network effects, as well as leverage existing tools and expertise through collaborative means. We also act as a bridge from gamer communities and small CSOs developing their own games, all the way to donor governments and international policymakers at the United Nations through the mandated UN Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT) and other mandated UN agencies including UNDP and UNITAR.
As a collaborative, at-will, network, individual and institutional benefits of becoming a member of the EGRN include, but are not limited to:
There are currently over 80 individual and organization members of the Network. A selection of our members are shown here. To view all our members, click below:
The EGRN publicly launched on 6 October 2021 — our introductory panel video provides an overview of the Network, preliminary research, and research trajectory. Interested in learning more? Download the State of Play on Gaming & Extremism authored by Galen Lamphere-Englund & Luxinaree Bunmathong at Love Frankie and the EGRN or browse more of our members’ research.
Since then, we’ve been mentioned by Axios and over 20 other media reports and regularly brief tech platforms, governments, and civil society organizations.
This new-found interest, however, seems to have overshadowed some of the earlier research into the exploitation of gaming by jihadist actors conducted over twenty years
The rise to prominence of the alt-right from technological fringes to the mainstream in 2016 brought with it the emergence of ‘alt-histories’; namely fabrications of
Radicalisation, Extremism, and Digital Games Over the last few years, the topics of extremism and radicalisation have reached the forefront of concern in gaming communities.
The potential nexus between gaming and extremism is an increasingly important concern for researchers, tech companies, policymakers, and practitioners working in preventing and countering (violent)