The opposition this week over our efforts to get Steam, the Walmart of videogames, to get rid of pornographic and sexually violent scenes, has been intense. We’ve had thousands of comments on our social media accounts, multiple hack attempts on our website and email accounts, and many angry phone calls to our office. NCOSE has been called every name in the book, from religious censors to feminist radicals (interestingly, because NCOSE is a non-partisan organization that works with allies from all political and religious backgrounds, these critics never know quite how to categorize our organization.)
Why is this happening?
We are receiving this vicious response from the online/videogame community because of our victory with Steam, a 2018 Dirty Dozen target. After a two-year campaign by NCOSE, Steam has contacted several videogame developers asking them to remove sexually graphic content in their games on Steam or face delisting.
Here are some examples of the comments attacking our organization:
Think of them as Jack Thompson made organization, except staffed by the censor-happy vindictive tools of today that aren’t above wielding their mighty ‘think of the kids’ rhetoric if they have a bone to pick a developer”
“I head that they’re a Conservative group, first time hearing about them, and I think they’re extremist knights templar group whose motto is “Think of the Children”. But they’re claiming victory of getting these games pulled. Despite that I myself am right leaning, I’m personally going to go mad if they go after the Neptunia games and the weeb games that I buy.
2. Porn (just like weed) is harmless for 99% of people who access it
…and radical feminists also. Nobody needs you. We are adults and we can and should decide for ourselves what we want to play or not. Nobody is going to assault a woman in a sexual way because of an anime game. GET A LIFE!! Those games aren’t at fault that nobody is going to ***** you either. Removing those games won’t change anything”
We will continue to fight and educate everyone about the serious harms of videogames that include sexual graphic and degrading themes. These video games present a serious issue because users become active participants in these scenes that promote themes of sexual violence, exhibitionism, and rape.
Steam hosts approximately 35 million users who are minors. These minors are being exposed to sexually degrading videogames and their sexual templates are being hijacked. As a society that is still grappling with the pandemic #Metoo movement, the consequences of campus sexual assault, military sexual assault, and rising child-on-child sexual abuse, we see that normalizing the sexual use (and often abuse) of others in videogames is irresponsible on the corporate and social level. We are continuing to build up evidence of all the video games that contain sexually explicit content on Steam, but it takes a lot of manpower and time. Consider supporting us in this uphill battle by donating to our campaign against Steam.
We applaud Steam for this step they are taking to remove sexual explicit on their platform, but they continue to need encourage as they are facing just as much or even more opposition from the gaming community. Thank them via twitter or email and let them know that you stand behind them in this decision to contribute to the end of sexual exploitation.
