Europol, in collaboration with eight European countries, has conducted a significant operation targeting extremist content disseminated across gaming and gaming-adjacent platforms. The initiative, which took place on November 13, 2025, resulted in the referral of thousands of URLs containing dangerous material, highlighting the growing misuse of these popular online spaces for radicalization and recruitment.
Key Takeaways
- Thousands of extremist links were identified and referred for removal.
- Gaming platforms are increasingly exploited for radicalization and recruitment.
- Extremists use sophisticated methods to embed and spread propaganda.
- Europol is enhancing cooperation to combat online extremism.
The Operation and Its Findings
The coordinated "Referral Action Day" saw the European Union Internet Referral Unit (EU IRU) and its partners identify a substantial amount of illicit content. This included 5,408 links to jihadist material, 1,070 links to violent right-wing extremist or terrorist content, and 105 links to racist and xenophobic posts. The operation underscores how extremist ideologies are fluidly moving across various digital spaces, including those frequented by young people.
How Extremists Exploit Gaming Ecosystems
Investigators found that extremist creators are increasingly embedding their propaganda within the gaming ecosystem. This often involves recording scenes within games or game chats, modifying them with coded language, emojis, or chants, and then distributing these edited clips on mainstream social networks. Platforms originally designed for streaming gameplay have also been misused to livestream attacks or recruit minors into extremist groups. The content was found across a variety of platform types, including real-time streaming services, video-on-demand libraries, community forums, and hybrid storefronts with social features.
Detection Challenges and Future Steps
Many accounts involved in disseminating extremist content do not overtly display their affiliations, sometimes using avatars or usernames that reference known terrorists. This layered dissemination process makes detection challenging. Europol specialists held operational meetings prior to the action day to exchange intelligence and refine best practices, aiming to reduce public exposure to extremist messages and strengthen cross-jurisdictional cooperation. The EU IRU plans to publish a Transparency Report detailing its 2024 activities, including its work with private-sector partners and its support for regulations addressing the dissemination of terrorist content online.
The shift towards targeting gaming platforms signifies the adaptability of extremist groups in finding new distribution channels. This trend is likely to lead to increased referrals and pressure on platform operators to respond swiftly to law enforcement requests, reinforcing the need for collaboration. For parents and young gamers, it serves as a critical reminder that gaming environments are not isolated from broader online threats.
Sources
- Europol Leads Takedown of Thousands of Extremist Gaming Links, Infosecurity Magazine.
- Europol and partner countries combat online radicalisation on gaming platforms – Referral Action Day removes
vast amounts of terrorist, racist and xenophobic propaganda from gaming and gaming-related platforms, Europol. - Europol storms gaming platforms in extremist content sweep • The Register, The Register.
