Government of Canada announces funding to study potential for radicalization to violence across gaming platforms

On March 13, 2024, Public Safety Canada announced a federal investment of $317,806 over two years to the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, to better understand potentially harmful socialization processes on gaming and gaming-adjacent platforms through a gender lens. This funding was granted through the Community Resilience Fund (CRF).

This project will analyze data across multiple gaming and gaming-adjacent platforms to investigate if the community formation occurring alongside gameplay has the potential to provide an environment that can be conducive to radicalization and to violent extremism. It will use a Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) model, to include analysis of gender and other equity concerns where possible. The study will explore multiple research questions like the socialization process in gaming subcultures. It will seek to analyze data across multiple gamer identity types, geographies, and languages, and to compare similarities and differences.

This data will be collected from multiple sources, including public chats and metadata on these platforms and from a survey circulated amongst gamers across different locations. Ultimately, this project will seek to provide a comprehensive look into multiple platforms (e.g., Discord, Twitch, Reddit, Steam, Roblox, Minecraft, etc.), to identify whether there is potential for harmful socialization in these spaces and how these are formulated through cultural and communicative understanding.

The Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence (Canada Centre)

Launched in 2017 and housed at Public Safety Canada, the Canada Centre is the government’s Centre of Excellence domestically and internationally on prevention of violent extremism. Its work is complementary to – but distinct from – national security, law enforcement, and criminal justice approaches. The Canada Centre leads the National Strategy on Countering Radicalization to Violence, working with academia and community-based organizations to better understand and prevent radicalization to violence before tragedies occur. The Canada Centre also funds targeted programming for research and front-line providers through the CRF.

The Canada Centre's activities include:

• Policy guidance including the development and implementation of the National Strategy on Countering Radicalization to Violence.
• Promoting coordination and collaboration with a range of stakeholders to build and share knowledge, and to respond to local level realities and prevent radicalization to violence.
• Funding, planning and coordinating research to better understand radicalization to violence and how best to counter it, and mobilizing research to front-line individuals working to prevent radicalization to violence.
• Supporting interventions through the Canada Centre's Community Resilience Fund to provide financial support to initiatives that aim to prevent radicalization to violence in Canada.

Preventing and countering online hate and violent extremism in all its forms is a complex and ever-evolving issue. The Government of Canada actively works with Five Eyes partners, through the Five Country Ministerial process, as well as with its G7 allies, the technology industry, experts, and civil society to more effectively counter ideologically motivated violent extremism in the online space.

Community Resilience Fund (CRF)

Public Safety Canada’s CRF supports research and community-based projects for the prevention of violent extremism.

The CRF provides opportunities for local communities, organizations, practitioners, researchers and youth-led initiatives to receive funds for countering radicalization to violence initiatives, as well as for international subject matter experts to help develop evidence-based prevention in Canada. Supporting and enhancing partnerships and innovation in research and programming is key to countering radicalization to violence in Canada.

The CRF has a total of $7 million available annually to fund new and innovative projects and has provided more than $69 million in funding to 78 projects since its creation in 2017.