This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.
(JTA) — “JEWISH SCUMBAGS.” “Beheading Baby Jews :).” “Zionist Murderers.”
These are some of the usernames my 10-year-old cousin Bailey Taylor sees when she opens the popular video game Slither.io. I have also seen usernames on the game that attack people of color and other minorities.
Slither.io is a multiplayer video game with a simple concept: Each player controls a snakelike icon and competes to “eat”glowing dots to grow their snake longer than the other players’ while trying to kill the competing snakes. It has been downloaded more than 500 million times to date. Many of the users are children and Slither.io is recommended for users ages 10 and older.
“I play a bunch of video games, and the fact that people write these things and don’t realize or care how it affects Jews is gross to me,” Bailey said from her home in Southern California. “These words get to me.” (My aunt asked that JTA identify her daughter by her middle name because she did not want her Jewish identity revealed in a public way, fearing her safety due to increased antisemitism since Oct. 7.)
Baily isn’t alone: According to 2022 study by the Anti-Defamation League, one in 10 teen gamers were exposed to online hate speech. “Hate and extremism in online games have worsened since last year,” the ADL reported, recommending that the industry install more safeguards and reporting systems.
This past December, my cousins and I began playing Slither.io over FaceTime and it became our new nightly routine. One night, Bailey was reading through the list of player’s usernames. “James, you should look at these,” she said, sounding concerned. I was taken aback to find the game was littered with antisemitic language, and I began screen-capturing offensive usernames and investigating the issue.
There are no restrictions on the usernames players can enter, and players take advantage of this, according to Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that monitors online gaming. The lack of oversight on usernames has led to prevalent hate speech in the game’s usernames. As of now, the only form of recourse for Slither.io users who see hate speech is uninstalling the app.
Although I contacted them multiple times, Slither.io did not respond for comment on this article.
In 2021, one user created a petition — written to Steven Howse, creator of the game — to “save” Slither.io. It cited racist, sexually profane and bullying language in the game as one of the main issues to be addressed. “I am a dedicated Slither Player,” the petition said. “I am speaking on behalf of a world wide Slither Community, whom love the game you have created. [This] game is beloved by kids and adults alike, but the ability for people to spam [inappropriate] messages is directly harming others of all ages and is considered cyberbullying.”
The petition received 117 signatures, and no change resulted.
Bailey’s 6th grade brother, Sam (for this article, his parents also asked that his real name not be used), feels “unappreciated and unwelcome” on Slither.io. The people who decided to represent themselves with these slurs “do not have good mindsets,” he said. “They should be ashamed of themself.”
During the pandemic, Sam and many other kids and teens took to online games as a means of socializing with friends, and the pastime has stuck. However, with hate speech and anti-Jewish sentiments becoming more prevalent, some parents fear online gaming may no longer be a safe way to connect with peers.
“As a parent I’m horrified to see antisemitic usernames in gaming, especially when a majority of the players are most likely kids and young adults,” said Sam and Bailey’s mother, Justine Taylor. “I’m lucky to have children who are proud of their Jewish identity. Not all kids are confident in who they are, so I can easily see how this language can impact other parents’ decisions to allow their children to play.” (My aunt asked to be identified by her middle name since she is applying for jobs at gaming companies and doesn’t want her views to interfere with her employment opportunities.)
Numerous experts acknowledge the harm from online abuse — and the obstacles to doing anything about it.
“Allowing [antisemitic] behavior is hurtful not only to the players in the game who may feel targeted by slurs, but also to anyone who hears about this behavior,” Brian Green, director of Technology Ethics at Santa Clara University, wrote me in an email. “Even those using this language are ultimately harmed, as they turn themselves into worse people, who become callous to the concerns of others (this applies to the game designers as well).”
However, from a constitutional perspective, the government cannot ban gamers from using offensive speech, said Eugene Volokh, a Los Angeles-based professor and First Amendment expert. “There is no ‘hate speech’ exception to the First Amendment,” said Volokh. “Whether the company should — as a matter of its own judgments rather than the law — try to ban antisemitic usernames is a different issue, which I leave to others.”
Philip M. Nichols, a professor of legal studies and business ethics at the Wharton School in Philadelphia, agrees that the burden is on private companies like Slither.io to shut down hate speech. “It is important to understand that online games are not the government, so the voluminous First Amendment law does not apply,” he said. “Instead, the operators’ responsibility to society matters.”
I found this response disheartening, as it seemed Slither.io was making no effort to eliminate hate speech “as a matter of its own judgments.” Was there really nothing to be done?
The problem, business ethics consultant Chuck Gallagher told me, is that Slither.io is not moderated. “There is no law requiring moderation, and if there were, someone would find a way around it. Hence, distasteful usernames, whether antisemitic, racial, or offensive otherwise, are, unfortunately, reflective of society or at least a portion of society,” Gallagher said.
“Slither is not alone; hate speech fills the chat/message/nickname functions of many online games, particularly as players try to out-cringe or outshock one another,” Gallagher added.
On a Reddit forum about the username issue on Slither.io, one player wrote, “It’s been like this since I first started playing in 2017 and it [the username issue] gets on my nerves. Unfortunately, the best thing I’ve found to do is ignore them. Wish names were moderated better though.”
The Anti-Defamation League’s research on hateful usernames in video games has confirmed this. “Our findings demonstrate that many game companies are failing even the most basic moderation efforts by allowing usernames such as ‘HeilHitler,’’’ the ADL reported in 2023.
Wanting more information, I reached out to the organization. “Our surveys of hate and harassment in online games show that young people who are exposed or targeted with hate in these spaces can feel uncomfortable or upset after playing, pull away from connecting with friends or family, have treated people worse than usual or even done worse in school as a result,” an ADL spokesperson said.
But at least one video game was able to use its platform to combat antisemitism, as Fortnite did with their virtual Holocaust remembrance museum last year. If enough attention is raised around the issue, maybe Slither.io may feel obliged to find solutions.
“We are all trying to figure out the nature of and the rules of our new online world,” said Wharton’s Nichols. “It is hard to figure out, but that is no excuse for antisemitism or other forms of hate.”
At the end of the day, if Slither.io isn’t going to moderate hate then individuals are going to have to use their own conscience. “Players should think about how the usernames they choose will impact the players around them,” said Daniel Kelley, director of Strategy and Operations at the ADL Center for Technology and Society. “On the other side of every screen is a human being with feelings and experiences, and the choices people make in online spaces have real offline consequences.”
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