“Jogos e Comunidades: Conter o Discurso de Ódio na rede”

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Publications

The enredo game-installation: a proposal to counter hate speech online

Publication . Costa, Susana; Tavares, Mirian; Bidarra, José; Silva, Bruno Mendes da

In this article we encourage conflict sensitive attitudes and multicultural awareness based on the potential for creative responses. Through digital media art and serious games strategies we seek to create safe areas for dialogue, debate, and awareness of hate speech. These solutions will be even more effective if they are based on the understanding of how different forms of expression emerge, interact, and potentially dissipate in the virtual environment. Grounded on the possibilities of digital media art, through a practice-based research methodology, we explore the process of creating a gamified counternarrative, designed with the objective of responding to hate speech, and, at the same time, capable of providing an experience of aesthetic enjoyment. Foreseeing the establishment of a collaborative network with the educational community and the non-specialized public (parents, youth, associations, educators), this project is also based on the key concepts of media and information literacy, which are important not only to understand and analyze the phenomenon of online hate speech, but also to develop strategies and tools that allow the containment of this type of speech.

2023Conference object

Open access

IN[The Hate Booth]: a gamified installation to counteract hate speech

Publication . Costa, Susana; Tavares, Mirian; Bidarra, José; Silva, Bruno Mendes da

Playing an online game, interacting on a social network or in a digital gaming community is part of the daily lives of most children and youth, with effects on the development of the personality, influence on the behavior and on the ability to manage conflicts. Studies and reports have been analyzing the interactions of online players, on gaming platforms and communities, as consumers and content producers, with the aim of understanding and finding effective ways to prevent hate speech from proliferating in these digital environments. In this article, we present a gamified installation, combining narrative and participatory approaches, as a response to the proliferation of online hate speech. The game-installation [IN]The Hate Booth consists of a light booth, where the interactor can find an interactive fiction game inspired by the videogame universe. This game will be the basis of a pedagogical itinerary, aiming to reflect on experiences with online hate speech and its effects inside and outside the virtual world [1, 2]. The initiative seeks to contribute to achieving and developing the sixteenth goal of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions: the construction of peaceful and just societies, and effective, accountable and inclusive democracies at all levels.

2023Journal article

Open access

In[The Hate Booth]: a case study on how to deal with online hate speech

Publication . Costa, Susana; Tavares, Mirian; Bidarra, José; Silva, Bruno Mendes da

In today's hyper-connected world, digital games and online gaming communities occupy a prominent place in the communication system, in social media, forums or Internet communities, where online hate speech (OHS) takes place, frequently and publicly, triggering toxic environments. In this chapter we present a case study based on interviews, distributed in two sessions, to ten participants with 12 and 13 years old, and an experience over the SG In[The Hate Booth], as a counterproposal to address OHS. The qualitative data approaches three aspects: the experiences with OHS, the perspectives about OHS and the possible solutions to counteract OHS. We conclude that OHS is a common complaint from players and a characteristic behavior in game communities. Data shows that even users who don’t identify themselves with this behavior accept it as part of online environments and agree that this toxicity continues outside the in-game screen with effects in everyday life. The pedagogical approach, namely through SG, is perceived as a possible measure to counteract the OHS.

2023Journal article

Open access