Islamophobic Violence in Digital Games

Abstract

This study aims to examine how Islamophobic representations are constructed through violence in the context of digital games and to explore the effects of these representations on user perceptions. Particularly, how the phenomenon of Islamophobia is reproduced and disseminated on the axis of digital media and interactive entertainment culture constitutes the main problem of the study. As it is known, the concept of "Islamophobia" has been addressed in different periods and contexts throughout history. Still, it has become a widespread discourse in the West, especially after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Following these attacks, the religion of Islam and Muslim identity have frequently been identified with violence, radicalism, and fundamentalism in global security discourses; thus, a stereotyped image of Islam shaped by the perception of fear and threat has been constructed in the social consciousness. This image is a current projection of the "barbarian Muslim" rhetoric whose roots are based on the Crusades, East-West encounters, and orientalist representation patterns. Today, this discourse is reproduced primarily through digital media tools and used effectively in shaping public opinion. In this context, digital games are not only entertainment but also media forms where cultural, ideological, and political representations are circulated and reproduced in interaction with players. Features such as visual reality, interactivity, and immersion provided by technological developments distinguish digital games from traditional media forms; they make them potent tools for visual culture, political narratives, and cultural ideologies. In digital games, players actively participate in scenarios based on war, conflict, and violence; this participation process can lead to psychosocial outcomes such as legitimization of violence, normalization of othering, and even internalization of hate speech. In this context, digital games are a content consumption area and a meaning production medium. These representations, which pave the way for players to develop subconscious or overt prejudices about Islam and Muslims, can become a part of social perception over time. This study selected some violent digital games that are highly popular among young users, which the Ministry of Youth and Sports also highlighted as samples. The research was conducted using a qualitative content analysis method based on both direct game experience and literature review. In the selected digital games, it has been observed that Muslim holy places, religious symbols, or names are constructed in the context of conflict, destruction, and terror; this turns into a direct or indirect humiliation towards Islamic values. In some scenes, sacred elements such as mosques, the Quran and the Masjid al-Nabawi are positioned as vulnerable to attack;. At the same time, some characters clearly bear Muslim names and are labeled as "enemy", "target" or "terrorist". The findings show that digital games not only reproduce Islamophobic perceptions, but also that these games can be used as tools for propaganda and militant recruitment by some radical groups. In particular, the removal of religious concepts such as "jihad", "martyrdom", and "caliphate" from their context and their association with vio lence both distorts the core values of Islam and causes young players to develop a negative awareness towards such concepts. The sound effects, character behaviors, and dialogue used in digital games are crucial components not only of narrative but also of cultural representation. The stereotyping of certain cultural and religious groups in popular first-person shooter games, from effects to visuals, perpetuates the derogatory representations of the cultural values of Muslim societies, which are positioned as "other" from a Western-centric perspective within the framework of Orientalism, a continuation of medieval Islam. In this context, digital games become both a vehicle for Western-centric, othering narratives and a medium used by some radical organizations to disseminate their ideological discourses. Therefore, digital games function as a two-way online ideological apparatus for both the reproduction of Islamophobic narratives and the dissemination of radical ideologies. In conclusion, this study reveals how digital games are strategically used in circulating Islamophobic discourses and the effects of this process on individual and social perception. As media products where ideological representations and cultural codes are invisibly conveyed, digital games have become powerful tools in the new media age in which Islamophobia is both reproduced and legitimized. In these games, symbols or places sacred to Muslims (such as mosques, crescents, minarets, the call to prayer, the Quran, and Arabic script) are particularly chosen. The use of these visuals within a war setting allows Islam and violence to be equated and can contribute to the formation of Islamophobic prejudices by equating Islamic identity with negative actions. In this context, violence is inflicted on Muslims by marginalizing them, thus making them the subjects of a new form of racism: cultural racism.