If you have a teen or young adult in your home, it's likely that you've heard of Fortnite, Valorant, Counter-Strike 2, or Overwatch 2. These online games have grown wildly popular and attract millions of daily users. 

A new report from the Anti-Defamation League Center for Technology and Society (ADL) is raising alarms about these games and the online gaming world in general. The research is showing that teens and young children are increasingly being subjected to hate and racial harassment when gaming. 

The use of racial slurs and trash talking, in particular, is becoming increasingly widespread and being normalized on such platforms. And it's being used with a concerning level of intensity, according to the ADL research. 

Here's a closer look at what the report found and how parents can help protect children from harassment in online games.

The newly released ADL report, "Playing with Hate: How People with Religious, Ethnic, and National Identity Usernames are Treated in Online Competitive Games," is based on research conducted in late 2023 through the summer of 2024. It was designed to examine what happens when gamers express pride in different religious, ethnic, or national identities when playing online, multiplayer games.

Each of the players entered online games using different religious identities, including Jewish and Muslim. They also used national identities, such as Chinese, Mexican, and Israeli. In particular, the researchers used player names like “Proud2bJewish,” “Proud2bMuslim,” “Proud2bChinese,” “Proud2bIsraeli,” and “Proud2bMexican," when participating in the games.

Here's what the research found:

“The unacceptable normalization of harassment in online games is not only concerning because of how widespread it is and because so many teens and young people are exposed to hate in these spaces, but also because of the intensity of the verbal abuse we’ve recorded,” Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL's CEO, said in statement issued with the report. 

During an interview with Parents, Daniel Kelley, interim head and director of strategy and operations for the ADL Center for Technology and Society, says that it is equally concerning that there seems to be an expectation among research participants that online gaming is simply a place where this type of harassment happens.

"It’s alarming that one of the main responses across all participants in the study was that they expected there to be even more hate than there was," says Kelley, adding, "People from marginalized identities should feel safe in online spaces and should feel safe to express who they are without fear of harassment.”

The findings associated with Valorant, Counter-Strike 2, Overwatch 2, and Fortnite are unfortunately not unique. In November 2024, the ADL Center on Extremism (COE) conducted an analysis of the globally popular Steam Community gaming platform and found similar concerns.

For those not entirely familiar, Steam is the world’s largest digital PC video game distribution service, according to the ADL. It was developed by U.S. software corporation Valve, and is something of a storefront for video games, as well as a social networking space for gamers across the globe.

The ADL analysis of Steam involved analyzing 458 million profiles, 152 million profile and group avatar images, and more than 610 million comments on user profiles and groups. The findings of that effort were equally unsettling and included identifying 1.83 million unique pieces of extremist or hateful content, including explicitly antisemitic symbols.

The same research found 1.5 million unique users and 73,824 groups who used at least one potentially extremist or hateful symbol or keyword on the platform. There were also 827,758 user and group profiles with avatars that contained extremist or hateful symbols. 

ADL leaders are calling on the gaming industry and the government to do more to address the proliferation of hate and harassment in online game settings. Kelley tells Parents that the gaming industry has a significant role to play.

"It is incumbent in this moment for the gaming industry to take the lead and say hate doesn’t belong here," Kelley says. "I think we will see whether the game industry takes up that gauntlet, whether they do lean forward more. I think it’s important that they take more steps to address these issues."

Kelley adds that while it's also important for parents to get involved, be concerned, and take steps to protect their children, they should not feel like it's entirely their responsibility to solve this challenge. "It is the responsibility of the gaming companies that own these games to create spaces that keep people safe and draw strict lines," he says.

Still, if you're a parent whose child plays on any of these platforms, experts say there are steps you can take to help protect them.

Speaking frequently with your child about their online gaming experiences is a key step. "Ask open-ended questions like, 'What kind of interactions do you usually have with other players?' or 'Have you ever felt uncomfortable or upset during a game?'" says Zishan Khan, MD, board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist with Mindpath Health. 

This approach shows your teen you're genuinely interested in their experiences and provides a safe space to share their concerns. "Encourage them to tell you about instances of harassment without fear of judgment or punishment, so they feel supported," says Dr. Khan.

Ensure that your child knows how to deal with harassment, says Sean O'Neill, a Licensed Family Therapist and clinical director at Maple Moon Recovery. This could include advising your child to block individuals who display abusive behaviors and report such violations to the gaming platform. 

Quitting toxic gaming lobbies is another important step. "Inform them that responding to spitefulness usually makes the situation worse; thus, it may be better if one just walks away," says O'Neill. 

And when gaming becomes too much, advise a child to go on break and put their own welfare first.

It can be a good idea for parents to establish limits for screen time and discuss the importance of being careful online when it comes to game selection and privacy. "Encourage them to go for games that are suitable for their age," says O'Neill. "Review together what their privacy settings should be and why."

Expecting teens to know how to behave online or recognize unacceptable behavior without guidance sets them up for failure, suggests Nathan Carroll, DO, MPH, chief resident of psychiatry at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and co-author of a book on gaming and mental health set to be published in 2026. 

"They will often default to mimicking the behaviors of the loudest and most attention-grabbing people they interact with," says Dr. Carroll. 

To teach your child about appropriate and inappropriate online behaviors during video games, you might even employ analogies when possible. "For example, 'If a football player harassed or bullied a competitor, they'd be penalized, their reputation damaged, and maybe even banned from the sport,'" explains Dr. Carroll. "Normalize talking about the real consequences harassment has on themselves and others."

Just as you would want to know your child's real-life friends, parents should also get to know who they spend time with online, says Dr. Carroll. "Knowing who these virtual people are helps you protect them from unscrupulous individuals online," Dr. Carroll adds. 

While making virtual friends usually has many positive mental health benefits, it also introduces some elements of risk. "Just like in real life, falling in with the wrong people online can be dangerous and result in harassment or worse," says Dr. Carroll.