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What's the problem?
For about a year now there has been an infrequently-active thread here on Era discussing the Uighur plight at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. Check it out:
It was recommended that I cross post this from EtcetEra for awareness, particularly as we move towards a new generation of consoles. Letting people make informed decisions about where they're willing to put their money is the best thing anyone can do here. Here's the latest on the various...
www.resetera.com
In short, the CCP are arresting innocent Uighurs in Xinjiang and sending them to concentration camps for 're-education'. The scenes emerging from these camps evoke strong parallels to Nazi Germany, with people being
shackled, shaved and loaded onto trains, accounts of
forced sterilisation,
systematic rape and many other torturous horrors.
This is a sustained effort to wipe out an entire people group –
genocide.
Prisoners who the CCP deems suitable for reintegration into society are then shipped out from these camps to work for companies that provide labour for many popular brands, including Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.
An important
report from The Australian Strategic Policy Institute, published in back in March 2020, drew attention to the implication of these companies in this chain of slavery and genocide. Since the publication of this report nothing of note has been done to respond to the situation, and the gaming media have all but ignored the issue. This is not good enough.
Why this thread?
Many of us have been disheartened by the general apathy in the gaming community towards this issue, including on these message boards. Case in point: the aforementioned thread on Era dedicated to discussing this topic accumulated ~1060 posts in about one year, whereas the most recent Nintendo Direct thread received ~7500 posts in less than a week. These numbers speak to what people value most.
Look, I get it – this is a hideous situation and the majority of us want to pretend it doesn't exist because it produces acute feelings of pain and sadness that are hard to face up to, especially when we consider our own implication in this system as end users.
I'm not pointing the finger because I am guilty too. I own an Xbox Series X, knowing about this situation when I purchased it. For me, gaming is a social experience and an escape that I need in my life sometimes (especially during present times). I'm a hypocrite too, and I battle with cognitive dissonance over this frequently. This isn't about shaming people or blaming others, but simply to acknowledge the reality of the situation and the system that we are all implicated in.
Nevertheless, as no one else with a platform or authority in the gaming sector is doing anything about this situation it falls to us to do something about it.
What can I do about it?
You have two immediate options to choose from:
1. You can post a drive-by 'there's no ethical consumption under capitalism' meme and move on with your life.
OR
2. You can take a minute out of your day to add your name to a petition that will try to draw attention to the issue and get a proper response from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. Ideally share it to your social media accounts too.
Stop Uighur slave labour in PlayStation, Xbox and Switch manufacturing
chng.it
The petition details the situation and demands Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo divest from suppliers identified in the ASPI report to use forced labour sourced from these camps. If enough of us sign up to it then we may be able to affect some sort of response from these companies.
We'll also need a way to get it before the major players and decision makers at these companies. I know that influential individuals within Xbox such as Stinkles from 343i and Major Nelson frequent these boards, so they might provide a route to Spencer and then Nadella at Microsoft. We will need people with contacts at Sony and Nintendo to step up too.
Again, this will all be dependent on the response the petition gets. If few people sign it and this thread gets buried then it won't make a difference, but I'm putting this out there in the hope that it will.
I want to do more. What else can I do?
1. The first point of call will be to contact your political representative about the issue. Obviously this will differ per country, but below is an evolving list of links to follow to quickly and easily contact your representative. If your country is not on this list, please PM me with details and I will add it:
2. Next, you can contact the companies directly to express your concern. Simply click one of the following mailto links to automatically generate an email addressed to a number of relevant people at these companies. Feel free to modify the placeholder text as you see fit:
3. Stop buying products from these companies. This provides a direct way to impact their business until they agree to complete divestment from the firms identified in the ASPI report. Instead, consider playing through your existing backlog, or buy second-hand, out-of-production consoles and retro games.
4. Donate to charities that work for lobbying and individual relief. LordHuffnPuff has identified a few charities that are worth your consideration, but please be aware that this is not an endorsement. Investigate any organisation yourself before donating:
[This section will be updated over time]
