SECURE COMMUNITIES FORUM · PRELIMINARY SURVEY REPORT
Gaming Safety Stories
Hate speech, extremism, and player experiences in online games
Conducted by the Secure Communities Forum with international academic and security partners.
ABOUT THE SAMPLE
A preliminary study, read as a diagnostic
The SCF, in collaboration with international partners, embarked on a mission to understand the current state of extremism and recruitment encountered in multiplayer game spaces. This report draws on 70 respondents collected across two deployments of the same questionnaire. It is a small, geographically concentrated sample, best read as an early window into the experiences of young adult gamers in 2026 rather than a representative picture of the global player base.
70
valid respondents across two survey deployments
7
countries represented
​
​
57%
based in the United Arab Emirates (40 of 70)
70%
aged 18 to 25, and 77% enrolled in university
​
RESPONDENTS BY COUNTRY
UAE
Singapore
Israel
United States
Indonesia
Japan
Maldives
Not disclosed
HEADLINE SIGNALS FROM THE STUDY
What players are experiencing
75%
encountered hate speech, harassment, or toxic behaviour in the past six months
~78%
first encountered harmful content before turning 18
45.7%
cited voice chat as the top surface for harmful behaviour
65%
still say gaming gives them belonging or comfort
Preliminary sample of 70 respondents; percentages are indicative, not population estimates.
WHAT THE DATA SHOWS
Key findings
41.5%
reported encountering hate speech, harassment, or toxic behaviour six or more times in six months.
12.8%
received explicit invitations to off-platform spaces tied to ideological content.
~40%
encountered material that was either extremist or ambiguous enough that they could not classify it.
~28%
first encountered harmful content before turning 13, underscoring how early exposure begins.
28.8%
witnessed another player being exposed to or influenced by extremist ideas through gaming.
29.8%
of those who filed a report received no response at all, pointing to a moderation gap.
THE CONTENT PLAYERS DESCRIBE
Extremist themes surfaced most often
Religious persecution, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, was the most frequently identified extremist theme, followed by white supremacist content.
Religious persecution
Antisemitism
Islamophobia
White supremacist content
Coded / sarcastic material
Gender-based harassment
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WHAT PLAYERS ASKED FOR
Protect these spaces, not restrict them
Despite what they encounter, most respondents value gaming as social infrastructure. When asked what would help, they prioritised concrete safety improvements over blunt restrictions.
30.2%
Better moderation
26.1%
Safer communities
17.6%
Clearer reporting tools
GLOBAL WORKING GROUP
Developed by an international panel
The survey instrument was designed by practitioners and researchers across policing, counter-extremism, academia, and industry.
Dr. Omer Ali Saifudeen
Assistant Dean, Graduate Studies Affairs, Rabdan Academy
1st Lt. Sultan Al Dahbashi
Head, Permanent Alliances Development Branch, UAE MOI
Prof. Razwana Begum Abdul Rahim
Head, Global Security & Strategy Graduate Programme, SUSS
Eitan Charnoff
Secretariat, Secure Communities Forum
Prof. Stan Gilmour
Former Senior UK Police Officer
Nicholas Aaron Khoo
Senior Advisor, Global Esports Federation
Galen Lamphere-Englund
Co-Founder, Extremism and Gaming Research Network
Tore Refslund Hamming
Researcher and Consultant
Lt. Col. Hamad Alhammadi
Regional Police Attaché, Asia and Pacific, UAE MOI
Parul Vyas
Financial Crime & Digital Assets, Coinbase
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