Quite a breathless little moral panic is starting over reports that ISIS terrorists may have used PS4 consoles to communicate while planning the attacks. One of the raids in Brussels reportedly found a PS4 console. The federal home affairs minister then compared it to WhatsApp, a popular communication app, saying it was even more difficult to keep track of. This has, of course, kicked off a bit of excitement in the tech and semi-tech press, over something that’s not even confirmed to have been their main vector of communication yet – but beyond 1) they had a console and 2) it might have been used, that’s all we actually know. Well, we know terrorists are console plebs, I guess. That’s three things. Confirmed
ISIS console plebs https://t.co/2xB3NnWROV — Mairéad (@MargaretsBelly) November 15, 2015 So instead of speculating, let’s talk about not speculating. About not being afraid of technology just because a bad person touched it, or misused it. About not being afraid in general, since that’s kinda what these stories end up doing – making us afraid of our technology – in particular things that spawn confusing subcultures like video games. It’s no great surprise that everyone in the world hates gamers and