Gaming & Extremism: Identity Fusion

Tech Against Terrorism

This week, we’re diving deeper into the nexus between gaming and extremism, exploring how gaming culture, storylines and symbols are being appropriated by extremist actors, and unpacking the concept of ‘identity fusion’: the phenomenon whereby players emotionally and psychologically merge their real-life identity with that of their in-game avatar or character.

Our guests also discuss how the growing immersiveness of online games and the increasingly blurred line between reality and virtual reality might impact radicalisation processes, and touch on how stakeholders can get ahead of this threat.

Join Anne Craanen as she speaks to Dr Rachel Kowert, a research psychologist and Research Director of gaming and mental health organisation Take This, and Dr Ashton Kingdon, a lecturer of Criminology at the University of Southampton.

You can read a transcript of this episode here.

To find out more about the Extremism and Gaming Research Network (EGRN), visit https://extremismandgaming.org/.

If you want to find out more about Tech Against Terrorism and our work, visit techagainstterrorism.org or follow us on Twitter @techvsterrorism, where you can find resources on this topic.