F.C. Copenhagen-backed esports organization North is taking steps to fight toxicity in Counter-Strike esports.
The Danish organization announced today that it’s starting a #StopToxicity movement in hopes of reducing toxic behavior toward players. The #StopToxicity hashtag will be prominently featured on North’s CS:GO player jerseys to spread awareness on the subject for the next three months.
“We want to make this a talking point in our community, and we want to show that we stand behind our message, to everyone who follows our beautiful game,” North said on Twitter earlier today. “But words and attention will not do it alone. We also need to take action. We need to become accountable for what happens in our [social media] feeds, in our comment sections, and in our direct messages.”
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This campaign comes days after North denounced hateful and threatening comments from fans toward its players from different platforms. Many other esports organizations, like Rogue Gaming, NRG Esports, and Team Liquid, backed them in saying that these types of comments are unacceptable. This is because players from all teams receive hate at different times, especially more so when they lose important games.
Ninjas in Pyjamas star Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund also vouched for them, telling his own experience with one fan who allegedly harassed him and his mother at home. In the end, he believes that the fan was troubled and that they just needed someone to talk to. Much of the toxicity stems from the betting scene for CS:GO matches, but now it’s a bit less rampant since the decreased popularity of CSGOLounge, a previously-massive website for skin-betting.
“We call upon the community to help us … weed out toxic behavior by reporting toxicity, banning toxic users from your own channels, [and] by excluding them from the very thing they want to poison,” North said. “We don’t think to change an entire community overnight, but we want to stand up and say that we can change.”
North and its new jerseys can be seen at the upcoming Minor Third Place Play-In this weekend, which is the final qualifying stage for the $1 million IEM Katowice Major. The organization also hopes that other teams, tournament organizers, and personalities will join them in trying to reduce toxicity in CS:GO.
