Addressing Interpersonal Harm in Online Gaming Communities: The Opportunities and Challenges for a Restorative Justice Approach examines the potential of restorative justice (RJ) to address interpersonal harm in online gaming communities, focusing on platforms like Overwatch and Discord. Current content moderation heavily relies on punitive measures such as bans and content removal, which often fail to address victims’ needs or foster offender accountability. Through interviews with 23 participants, including victims, offenders, and moderators, this research explores how harm is managed and how RJ could enhance these processes. Key findings highlight cultural, technical, and resource-related challenges in implementing RJ within the existing punitive framework. Recommendations include embedding RJ principles into moderation systems, training moderators as facilitators, and fostering a culture of empathy and responsibility within online communities. By addressing these obstacles, RJ has the potential to transform digital spaces into safer and more inclusive environments.
An overview of the research paper: Addressing Interpersonal Harm in Online Gaming Communities: The Opportunities and Challenges for a Restorative Justice Approach
Authors: SIJIA XIAO, University of California, Berkeley, USA SHAGUN JHAVER, Rutgers University, USA NILOUFAR SALEHI, University of California, Berkeley, USA
ACM Reference Format: Sijia Xiao, Shagun Jhaver, and Niloufar Salehi. 2023. Addressing Interpersonal Harm in Online Gaming Communities: The Opportunities and Challenges for a Restorative Justice Approach. J. ACM 37, 4, Article 111 (August 2023), 36 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/1122445.1122456
This paper explores the opportunities and challenges of adopting a restorative justice (RJ) framework to address interpersonal harm in online gaming communities, focusing on platforms like Overwatch and Discord. Current content moderation systems predominantly rely on punitive measures such as bans and content removal. These approaches often fail to address the underlying causes of harm, the needs of victims, or the accountability of offenders. Through interviews with 23 participants, including victims, offenders, and moderators, this study examines how harm is currently managed and the potential for RJ principles to improve these processes.
Restorative justice offers an alternative to punitive moderation by centring on repairing harm and fostering understanding among all stakeholders. Victims, offenders, and moderators provided insights into the limitations of current systems and the possibilities of RJ. The findings reveal how RJ principles could address victims’ needs, encourage offender accountability, and engage communities in healing.
Limitations of Current Content Moderation
Existing moderation systems focus on punitive measures that primarily target offenders. These measures often neglect victims’ emotional recovery and fail to address broader community impacts. Victims report dissatisfaction with opaque reporting mechanisms and a lack of support for their recovery. Offenders are rarely guided to understand the consequences of their actions or encouraged to make amends. Moderators, often volunteers, rely on punitive frameworks that lack restorative elements and meaningful opportunities for dialogue.
Victims’ Needs and Concerns
Victims expressed mixed feelings about engaging in RJ practices. Many were open to the idea of restorative meetings if offenders were genuinely willing to repair the harm. Their primary needs included understanding offenders’ motivations, receiving apologies, and ensuring behavioural change. However, some victims doubted the sincerity of offenders and questioned whether systemic issues like sexism or transphobia could be addressed through individual RJ conferences. Emotional exhaustion was a common theme, with many victims preferring to move on rather than engage further with offenders.
Offenders’ Perspectives
Offenders varied in their willingness to participate in RJ. Some expressed genuine interest in repairing relationships but often lacked trust or understanding of the process. Others preferred punitive measures, viewing RJ as unnecessary or overly demanding. Younger offenders, in particular, struggled with accountability and sometimes viewed RJ as an opportunity to deflect blame or reduce consequences. These attitudes underscored the importance of skilled facilitation to ensure meaningful participation.
Moderators’ Challenges and Insights
Moderators acknowledged the presence of restorative elements in their practices, such as engaging with victims and offenders. However, these interactions were primarily aimed at gathering evidence for punitive decisions. The power dynamics inherent in moderation roles often hindered authentic dialogue, with offenders attempting to appease moderators rather than engage sincerely. Volunteer moderators cited resource and training gaps as significant barriers to implementing RJ effectively. Efforts to promote RJ principles often faced cultural resistance within gaming communities, where punitive approaches were deeply entrenched.
Structural and Cultural Challenges
The transition from punitive to restorative approaches in online communities presents significant structural and cultural challenges. Facilitating RJ processes requires substantial labour, both in terms of preparation and execution. Training moderators as facilitators and shifting community mindsets are critical but resource-intensive tasks. The anonymity and transient nature of online interactions further complicate offender accountability and emotional engagement, both of which are central to RJ success.
Recommendations for Integrating RJ Online
To address these challenges and harness the potential of RJ, several strategies are recommended:
- Embedding RJ Principles in Moderation Tools: Platforms can integrate restorative practices into their moderation systems, such as facilitating structured dialogues between victims and offenders or providing community-led restorative circles.
- Training Moderators as RJ Facilitators: Moderators can be trained to adopt restorative approaches, transitioning from punitive enforcement to mediating and resolving harm collaboratively.
- Community Engagement and Education: Building a culture of responsibility and empathy within gaming communities can help prevent harm and encourage collective healing.
- Implementing Hybrid Models: Combining punitive and restorative approaches may be necessary to address harm effectively, depending on the severity and context of incidents.
Conclusion
This study highlights the limitations of punitive moderation and the transformative potential of restorative justice in online gaming communities. While significant challenges remain, integrating RJ principles into content moderation systems offers a promising path toward creating safer, more inclusive, and supportive digital spaces. By addressing victims’ needs, fostering offender accountability, and engaging communities, RJ has the potential to reshape the way harm is addressed in online environments.
