Toxic Behaviour/Hate Speech

Toxic behaviour and hate speech are a serious problem in the games industry, and decisive action is being taken against them. Measures against such behaviour are also in the industry’s and individual providers’ own interest, because toxic communities damage a game’s reputation, which can lead to players no longer wanting to use a computer game.

Since February 2024, the legal framework for dealing with illegal content on platforms has been the European Digital Services Act (DSA), which is implemented in Germany through the Digital Services Act Implementation Act (Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz, DDG) and has replaced the former Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG). Rigid deletion deadlines, as still provided for under the NetzDG, are rightly no longer part of the DSA. Instead, it relies on notice and action procedures and a set of obligations graduated according to the type and size of the service. Whether and to what extent online games fall under the DSA depends on their specific features: merely playing a game does not constitute the intermediation of third-party content, and in-game communication is usually fleeting and not public, meaning that hate speech is not perpetuated here, unlike on social media platforms. Only features such as the public dissemination of user-generated content can give rise to more extensive obligations. From the perspective of the games industry, it is essential that the specific characteristics of the medium are taken into account when applying the DSA – and that games are, quite simply, not social media.

For the many game-related forums in which toxic behaviour occurs, providers have already established many innovative and, above all, effective mechanisms to protect their communities from haters and trolls. Many forums have community managers who act as role models and directly address toxic players. In the event of repeated violations of the netiquette, accounts are temporarily suspended. Shadow banning has also proven to be an effective tool against incorrigible haters and trolls. These rules are usually applied uniformly worldwide, so that community standards are also established globally.

For further information, the association has published a supplement in the legal journal MMR: MMR 08-2025 – Digital Services Act and Games