Young people are increasingly gathering on gaming platforms — and having conversations that are typically anonymous and largely invisible to the outside world, Axios' Sara Fischer and Erica Pandey report.

• Why it matters: Discord, Roblox and Steam, built for gamers, have evolved into hubs for authentic interactions, as mainstream apps chase virality.

These gaming platforms are drawing new scrutiny for harboring hate and exploitation that remain hidden in closed forums until problems spill out.

• Extremist groups that have been booted from mainstream platforms have found new homes in gaming spaces.

Unlike public-facing apps like Instagram and TikTok, these users are much more accustomed to using pseudo-identities to connect, making it easier to share radical and taboo ideas anonymously.

• "Extremists and predators go to these gaming spaces to find highly-engaged, susceptible young people," says Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat, a policy adviser on tech and law at NYU Stern.

But smaller chat rooms are typically sealed off. "Most researchers are basically blind to all of this," Rosenblat says. Users exploit the gaming context, using gamespeak to mask extreme or dangerous ideas.

• The platforms themselves can access this content. But finding it is like searching for a drop in the ocean. And most haven't invested enough in safeguards or moderation to protect young people, Rosenblat notes.

Examples are piling up:

• Discord: There's fresh scrutiny on the popular platform after the suspect in Charlie Kirk's murder appeared to confess in a Discord chat. Discord was also used by organizers of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. to spread the word and set up car pools and lodging. The shooter who killed 10 people in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, N.Y. in 2022 recorded months of preparation in a Discord chat.
• Roblox: The platform is marketed to kids but has drawn sharp criticism for the sexual, predatory and extremist content that bubbles up.
• Twitch: The Buffalo shooting was livestreamed on the Amazon-owned gaming platform Twitch. The company very quickly condemned the attack and removed the video.
• Steam: Researchers in 2021 found Steam had become a place where far-right ideologies came to connect, including groups that promoted neo-Nazi organizations.

🏛️ What to watch: House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) has asked the CEOs of Discord, Steam, Twitch and Reddit to testify Oct. 8 about user radicalization.

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President Trump told Attorney General Pam Bondi in a Truth Social post, in a demanding tone that sounds like a private text message (top image above), that "JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!" with prosecutions of political enemies— former FBI director James Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

• The backdrop: Trump's post was motivated by animus toward Erik Siebert, the Virginia-based U.S. attorney investigating James and Comey. Siebert was ousted on Friday after he said investigators found insufficient evidence to bring charges against James.

Trump said he'd read "over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, 'same old story as last time, all talk, no action'" — which sounds like the kind of dossier aides and allies hand him when they're making a case.

• "We can't delay any longer, it's killing our reputation and credibility," he added. "They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING."
• The post was signed "President DJT."

Just over an hour later, the president appeared to play cleanup with a more typical post (bottom image above) saying Bondi "is doing a GREAT job as Attorney General."

• He said he's naming Lindsey Halligan — a lawyer in the White House staff secretary's office, and one of his former defense attorneys — to replace Siebert as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

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Republicans' sweeping Medicaid overhaul has left a lot of the heavy lifting to governors and state health officials as the program launches the biggest package of changes in its 60-year history, Axios' Maya Goldman reports.

• Why it matters: States will have to do more with less as they face about $1 trillion in program cuts, and the likelihood of 10 million or more newly uninsured people due to new work rules and other changes.

Starting in 2027, the new law will require states to condition Medicaid eligibility for able-bodied adults on working, volunteering or doing other qualifying activities for at least 80 hours per month.

• Keep reading.

More than half a million new apartment units are expected to be completed this year — down roughly 21% from last year's record.

• The pipeline is slowing as higher building costs, higher interest rates and a surplus of supply in some markets make developers cautious to start new projects, Axios' Sami Sparber reports.

Between the lines: Apartments that do get built are usually luxury, not the affordable options many renters are searching for.

• And with fewer new apartments coming, rents could climb faster again.

Read on ... Explore the data.

A massive security presence is enveloping State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., today: President Trump, Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top administration officials will speak at Charlie Kirk's memorial service at 2 p.m. ET, Axios Phoenix's Jeremy Duda reports.

• Homeland Security designated the memorial a Level 1 Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) event — the agency's highest security rating, and the same level as the Super Bowl, ABC News reports.

The dress code is listed as "Sunday Best- Red, White, or Blue."

• The stadium accommodates up to 73,000. Overflow seating will be offered next door at Desert Diamond Arena, with a capacity of 19,000.
• Erika Kirk — Charlie Kirk's wife, and his successor as CEO of Turning Point USA — will speak. Prominent Christian musicians and Lee Greenwood will perform.
• Speaker lineup ... White House video.

Erika Kirk sat down in Scottsdale, Ariz., with Robert Draper, who profiled Charlie Kirk for The N.Y. Times Magazine in February ("He Always Delivers — gift link).

• Draper writes today that in Erika Kirk's view, "a young but towering spiritual voice was silenced by a young lost soul":

"I'm a strong believer that this was God's plan," she said. "And it's so clear-cut. It couldn't be more Charlie ... I've had so many people ask, 'Do you feel anger toward this man? Like, do you want to seek the death penalty?' I'll be honest. I told our lawyer, I want the government to decide this. I do not want that man's blood on my ledger. Because when I get to heaven, and Jesus is like: 'Uh, eye for an eye? Is that how we do it?' And that keeps me from being in heaven, from being with Charlie?"

Keep reading.

The N.Y. Times and MSNBC report that before the 2024 election, Trump border czar Tom Homan accepted $50,000 in cash during an undercover FBI probe of whether he was promising future border-enforcement contracts.

• Homan called the report "bullsh*t."

The Trump administration closed the case "because of doubts about whether prosecutors could prove to a jury that Mr. Homan had agreed to do any specific acts ... and because he had not held an official government position at the time of the meeting with undercover agents," The Times reports.

• The money was in a bag from CAVA, the Mediterranean fast-casual chain, per The Times.

More shoppers are reading clothing labels, looking for 100% cotton, wool and silk fabrics over fast fashion polyester, Axios' Sami Sparber writes.

• Why it matters: Picking natural fabrics is trending — and it can reduce exposure to microplastics and help build wardrobes that last.

📱 State of play: Roughly 9,000 TikTok posts were tagged #NaturalFibers during the first half of 2025 — up more than 230% from the same time last year, according to data the platform shared with Axios.

• People are posting natural-fiber clothing hauls and label-reading tips to avoid synthetics.

"Most of the time, you find something you like and are disappointed when you check the care label," Colleen Kleinmann, a TikToker, tells Axios.

• It's not just that clothes made of natural fibers biodegrade and are easier to recycle. A half-polyester sweater will wear out and lose shape and color in three years, she says.

Keep reading.

Taylor Swift is celebrating the release of her 12th studio album, "The Life of a Showgirl," at movie theaters around the world.

• "Audiences will see the exclusive world premiere of the music video, 'The Fate of Ophelia,' along with behind-the-scenes footage from the music video shoot, brand new lyric videos, and Taylor's never-before-seen personal reflections on songs from her [latest album]," AMC says.

The 90-minute show will play at all 540 AMC theaters in the U.S. from Oct. 3 through Oct. 5.

• "Dancing is optional but very much encouraged," Swift wrote in an Instagram post.

Read the announcement.