Valve removes Nazi Steam profiles at German Media Agency request
Valve, the developer behind Steam, has started deleting Nazi steam profiles this week. These profiles either promoted Nazi symbolism or displayed it publically through their personal groups or comments, and have been rife on Steam for a long time.
This news comes from GameRant, who states that the move to delete such profiles was influenced and encouraged by “a German television and radio regulatory group” where symbols and hate speech – including Nazism – is not tolerated. To be more precise, it was in fact the “Germany’s Media Agency Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein” (MA HSH) that convinced Valve to delete these hateful profiles.
We found out, via GamesIndustry.Biz (as translated by Jalopnik editor, Raphael Orlove) that a recent release from MA HSH said that they had Valve remove up to 30 Nazi Steam profiles, as well as 28 wallpapers. This was due to it being illegal under German law.
As we’ve said above, Steam has had a number of these profiles dogging their servers, yet haven’t done much to actively address these hateful groups. Games including controversial subjects have had to go through a vetting process which has been somewhat successful in some instances, and quite the opposite in others.
Valve joined Blizzard in coming under fire by players after the developer started blocking certain games that protested against the circumstances happening in Hong Kong. It’s a move that has been criticized, particularly considering Valve’s previous inaction against hate groups on their servers.
As for what Valve plans to do now, we’re unaware. What is clear, however, is that the job of regulating these profiles and users who feel that they are able to violate the rules of Steam, is still incredibly necessary. Thankfully, the MA HSH noted that Valve had promised that they would do better at training their community moderators in order to prevent future violations.
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