"the Internet Is Right-Wing". Gamers' Opinions about Politics and Politicisation of Gaming Spaces in Italy and Australia

The acknowledgement of identities that were previously ignored by gaming industries engendered online confrontations in gaming communities, including the #Gamergate (Kidd & Turner, 2016; Burgess & Matamoros-Fernández, 2016), the so- called Twitter Incident (Tomkinson & Harper, 2015), and the “Dickwolves case” (Salter & Blodgett, 2012). Alt-right ideologues, including Steve Bannon, built a sophisticated media system based on strategies and ideas emerging from such controversies. Links between gaming and Alt-right have been described (Bezio, 2018; Khan, 2019; Duarte, 2021; Fleet, 2022) in terms of media strategies, online coordination among activists, and commodification of controversial opinions (Wodak, 2020).

At the same time, video games have been used by extreme right-wing groups so as to recruit new members, including adolescents (Newhouse & Kowert, 2024). Far right-wing parties in Italy have attempted to use video games like Gioventù Ribelle (Rebellious Youth) and Rimbalza il Clandestino (Bounce off the Clandestine) (Cappai, 2015, pp. 104-105; Cleger, 2015) for recruitment, albeit with limited success. Conversely, far right online activities have worried Australian authorities, especially in relation to teenagers’ recruitment on Roblox. The Australian Alt-right has its own unique characteristics and groups (Young & Boucher, 2022), albeit it is strongly linked to its US counterpart.

This study investigates how gamers considered the politicization of gaming spaces and the influence of the Alt-right. It is based on 40 semi-structured interviews to video games players between the ages of 18 and 30 years in Italy and Australia. The research show that Italian participants mostly view the connection between gaming and politics under the lens of institutional engagement (e.g., laws to support gaming industries), whereas Australian participants express concerns related to the politicisation of gaming spaces and avoid online “toxic environments”.