Yesterday, I wrote about
@TakeThisOrg and their DHS grant.
@Drkowert Dr. Rachel Kowert is a very busy individual.
Canada announced a funding program on March 13 2024 to study violent extremism in video games, so lets unpack today the relationships and connections!
The federal government of Canada has announced more than $300,000 in funding awarded to a group to study how gaming communities can potentially create environments conducive to radicalization and violent extremism via gender-based analysis. The official post from Canada dot CA specifically states they are looking at how misogyny plays a role in extremist ideologies across geography.
Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Public Safety, has approved this funding and are working with Extremism and Gaming Research Network through a partnership with the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. The funding provided falls under the Community Resilience Fund- which aims to combat extreme violence in communities in Canada.
What is Extremism and Gaming Research Network? Lets unpack:
EGRN is a research network that aims to uncover how malign actors exploit gaming and inversely, they want to use gaming for good. Started in 2021, they boast more than 60 registered members and include many "top global think tanks and institutions". One of their core mission questions reads as such: How can gamers and gaming platforms be empowered to combat hate and facilitate building positive, resilient communities?
A direct quote from their website front page:
We also act as a bridge from gamer communities and small CSOs developing their own games, all the way to donor governments and international policymakers at the United Nations through the mandated UN Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT) and other mandated UN agencies including UNDP and UNITAR.
Some listed partners:
If you scroll to their membership page, filed under individual members, the 5th one listed is Dr. Rachel Kowert. Other members included are an ADL Belfer Fellow researcher, lecturers from various universities, and various counter terrorism individuals, along with "far right extremist experts".
Under the research tab on the website under 'reports & research papers', they directly link to posts written by Dr. Rachel Kowert, linking to Take This Org and the second article listed is that from the ADL.
On the same page, they talk about conducting the first ever behavioral research within the gaming community of BRAZIL and their involvement with political action.
And you must be asking yourself, how does all of this connect back to
@SweetBabyInc? Dr. Kowert authored the blogpost from Take This Org "denouncing" gamergate 2 and linking a
@Kotaku article defending SBI.
All links in the following post.