Woke UK video game backfires: ‘Extremist’ Amelia becomes viral symbol of British pride
Screenshots from Pathways: Navigating the Internet and Extremism.
If the player decides that “this seems unfair” and has Charlie engage with the post, Charlie ends up inadvertently sharing the content with online bad actors, sending the player’s radicalization risk score through the roof.
Charlie avoids arrest long enough to attend class with Amelia in the third scenario, where she suggests that “immigrants are coming to the U.K. and taking our jobs.”
Amelia features prominently in the fourth scenario, where she is introduced as a close friend of Charlie who has “made a video encouraging young people in Birdlington to join a political group that seeks to defend English rights.”
After Amelia — who is depicted holding the Union Jack and a sign that says, “No entry” — asks Charlie to join a group called Action for Britain and shares a video on-theme, the player is given the option of having Charlie: ignore the video, like the video but not join the group, or share the video and join the group.
If the player chooses the third option, their radicalization risk score increases just as it will increase if they agree in the final scenario to go in Amelia’s place to protest “the erosion of British values.”
Screenshot from Pathways: Navigating the Internet and Extremism.
Regardless of inputs, the game inevitably suggests that exposure to supposedly extremist views such as love for nation, concern over wage suppression by immigrants, and cultural erasure warrant Charlie’s referral to an anti-terrorism expert and re-education on “how to engage positively with ideology and the difference between right and wrong in expressing political beliefs.”
The Telegraph, citing official documents, revealed last year that the British government listed “cultural nationalism,” defined as the belief that Western culture is “under threat from mass migration and a lack of integration by certain ethnic and cultural groups,” as a terrorist ideology.
The game concludes with the suggestion that only after receiving counseling on “harmful ideology” from a hijab-wearing counselor is Charlie able to “rebuild their confidence, find their identity, and continue their college course successfully.”
New pathway for Amelia
Amelia has recently featured in numerous viral online videos and memes where she warns of the Islamification of Britain, champions national pride, promotes normalcy, and criticizes leftist policies.
In a popular Amelia meme shared by Elon Musk, the character underscores that the English people aren’t “immigrants” and “didn’t ‘arrive’ in England. They became England — over more than a millennium.”
In another popular meme, Amelia is shown bonding with Charlie over their common love of country, getting married, then starting a family.
Amelia has also been depicted as the Lady of the Lake of Arthurian legend, handing an armored knight the sword Aerondight; in photo-realistic images mocking political figures; and in a multitude of other images making a wide range of political commentary.
British journalist Mary Harrington writing for UnHerd noted that “Amelia stands as a potent illustration of how desperately an officialdom accustomed to comparatively comprehensive public message control is struggling to adapt to the recursive online environment.”
When pressed for comment, Hull City Council referred Blaze News to the U.K. Home Office, which did not respond. Shout Out UK for comment similarly did not respond.
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