Inside Online Gaming: Understanding the Risks Young People Face

🎮The biggest risks in gaming aren't always hidden in the games themselves - they're often found in the communities and conversations happening around them.  

🕹️In the second episode of Level Up Safely, Galen Lamphere-Englund and Phillippa Guillou delve into the different types of harms young people can encounter in gaming spaces - from bullying and toxic behaviour to grooming, sexual exploitation and attempts by extremists to spread their ideas.

They also investigate how gaming culture and humour can be used to make harmful messages seem normal, why anonymity in gaming spaces can make bad actors harder to identify, and how conversations moving between platforms are allowing potentially harmful communities to grow out of sight.

This episode’s guests are:

• George Osborn - Gaming journalist and author of Power Play: Video Games, Politics, And The Global Battle for Influence

• Emily Thompson - Digital extremism researcher and Principal Strategic Advisor, the Christchurch Call Foundation 

• Jacob Davey - Director of Policy & Research for Counter-Hate at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, UK  

• Sarah, Exit Hate UK

RESOURCES 

• Check out our free Level Up Safely e-learning course: 

🌐christchurchcall.org/learn 

• If you or someone you know needs support, you can find free mental health helplines in your country here:

🌐 findahelpline.com 

• If you're in the UK and are concerned that someone you know may be vulnerable to radicalisation, contact ACT Early for free advice and support:

 🌐 actearly.uk

 📞 0800 011 3764

• If you’re in Canada, visit the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence: 🌐 publicsafety.gc.ca 

About your hosts:

Galen Lamphere-Englund leads the Christchurch Call Foundation’s Catalyst consortium dedicated to improving online safety and preventing harms at the intersection of misogyny and violent extremism. 

Phillippa Guillou is an award-winning journalist and podcast producer and co-founder of OG Podcasts.

Connect with Galen:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/galenenglund 

Email: catalyst@christchurchcall.org   

Connect with Phillippa: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillippa-guillou

Email: philly@ogpodcasts.co.uk