Racism
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Facebook, Google and Twitter agree to delete some hate speech
Germany has long complained that major internet services don't do enough to fight hate speech, and it now looks like those companies are going to do something about it. Facebook, Google and Twitter have all promised Germany that, "as a rule," they'll delete criminal forms of hate speech (such as inciting people to violence) within 24 hours. The push for action comes primarily in response to increased racism following Europe's refugee crisis, but it's not unexpected in light of the country's decades-old battle with hate.
Racial discrimination skews Airbnb rentals, study claims
Renting a room at a hotel is a fairly blind process: if you can pay the rate and the hotel has vacancy, you've got a place to rest your head. Airbnb is a little different -- allowing hosts to accept or deny guests at their leisure. The system is designed to create familiarity for hosts renting rooms out of their home. According to a new study, however, it also opens the door for racial discrimination.
Zuckerberg: Facebook will fight to protect Muslim rights
It's hard to open a laptop or cellphone these days and not be appalled by the latest awful or just plain factually incorrect thing Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has said on the campaign trail. Thankfully, the list of prominent voices speaking out against him (even among his own party) continues to grow. The latest addition? None other than Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. The Social Network head responded to the priapic real estate mogul's calling for a "total and complete" shutdown of Muslims immigrating to the United States, saying that his Jewish upbringing means he was raised to stand up against attacks on all communities.
Post a racist comment online, see it on a billboard near your house
Messages posted on Facebook, Twitter and other online spaces may feel like they carry less weight than things said in the physical world -- but that's not the case, argues Brazilian civil-rights group Criola. This year, Criola launched a campaign labeled, "Virtual racism, real consequences," which pulls racially bigoted comments from the internet and places them on billboards in the neighborhoods where the commenters live. Criola finds racist messages online and then uses geotag data to locate the author's neighborhood; the group then rents billboard space nearby and prints the comments for the world -- and the original writer -- to see. The names and images of the commenters are blurred out, but the message rings clear: Things said online affect people in real life, in real ways.
Tim Cook says Apple will learn from discrimination seen in Australia store
A video hit the web this week showing Apple store employees in Melbourne, Australia, kicking out a group of black teenagers because security was worried "they might steal something." In the video, the teens (from Sudan and Somalia) repeatedly question the employees' concerns, but the only response they receive is, "End of discussion. I need to ask you to leave our store." Apple swiftly apologized and a senior manager from the site visited the students involved to assure them they were welcome at the store. Apple CEO Tim Cook sent an email to employees calling the incident "unacceptable," asserting the company's commitment to inclusivity and pledging to re-train its leadership in stores worldwide (as unearthed by Buzzfeed). "While I firmly believe that this was an isolated incident rather than a symptom of a broader problem in our stores, we will use this moment as an opportunity to learn and grow," he writes.
Anonymous says it's outing 1,000 prominent KKK members (updated)
Anonymous is no stranger to risky internet activism, and its latest campaign is no exception to the rule. The hacking-focused collective claims that it's outing "up to" 1,000 people who are either Ku Klux Klan members or "close associates" of KKK factions. It says it'll reveal all on November 5th, but an early data leak already purports to name-and-shame mayors, members of Congress and police officers (including cops in Ferguson, Missouri). If true, the details would potentially wreck more than a few careers -- especially those of people who use roundabout methods to support the Klan while keeping their racist connections a secret.
Web tool measures your Reddit friends' bigotry
Let's face it: while Reddit is a great overall place to visit, some of its users are nicer than others. But how do you discover this without creeping histories or lurking in unsavory subreddits? An unofficial web tool, Free Reddit Check, might just help. The website attempts to quantify the homophobia, racism and sexism of Reddit users based on both what they say as well as the subreddits they frequent. Want to find out if a friend's off-color remark is just an isolated incident or a part of a larger pattern? This might help.
Trolls are using Twitter ads to push hate speech
As much as Twitter is doing to fight harassment lately, it's clear that ill-willed users are still slipping past the social network's defenses -- and sometimes, in very conspicuous ways. Users have spotted trolls using Twitter's promoted tweet ads to spread racist and anti-transgender messages, guaranteeing a wide audience for their hate. The company tells The Guardian that it's pulling these ads and suspending the offending accounts, but it's not offering an explanation for why these tweets got through despite policies that explicitly ban hateful language. The failures suggest that Twitter's ad approvals are relatively hands-off, and that it needs to keep a much closer eye on things so that its ads remain friendly. [Image credit: Señor Nejo, Flickr]
Gaming while black: Casual racism to cautious optimism
NPR's Planet Money reported last year on a culture shift in 1984 that drove many women away from pursuing computer science degrees. Computers were more readily available at stores that catered to men and advertisements pushed the narrative that these new-fangled home devices were made for men. Pop culture followed suit, depicting men as computer geeks in movies, books and journalism. One thing that Planet Money found notable about computer ads in the 1980s was that they featured "just men, all men." Another aspect the ads shared was that they overwhelmingly starred a specific type of man: white. Click here for the full piece on Joystiq
League of Legends cracks down on more bad seeds
Riot Games has announced its next level of enforcement for problematic players in the wildly popular League of Legends. After working toward player reform over the last few years, the studio is now looking at a more aggressive approach. In cases of "extreme toxicity" (i.e. racism, death threats, homophobic remarks, etc.), troublesome players can expect a more severe penalty ranging from a 14-day ban to a permanent ban from the game. In the case that an "unfair ban" comes into question, Riot says they will now be fully transparent with chat logs and post the exact log that led to the player's ban. Intentional leavers/AFKers are also a concern for Riot as they plan to address these problems in the future.
The Stanley Parable dev promises to alter controversial PSA slides
There is a PSA video called "Choice" within The Stanley Parable that some players are finding very offensive. Within the video, slides show a white man interacting with an impoverished black child from a third-world country. In one slide, he's giving the child a cigarette; another shows him setting the child on fire. In response to criticism on Twitter, creator Davey Wreden has agreed to alter the imagery in an upcoming patch. Wreden told Kotaku that "we always wanted the game to be something that could be played by anyone of any age" and that if "a person would feel less comfortable showing the game to their children then I've got no problem helping fix that!" Wreden concluded that the new slides could be added to The Stanley Parable in around a few weeks' time, but that changing the audio would pose a much more difficult task. The Stanley Parable, a remake of Wreden's original Source engine mod released in 2011 that has sold over 100,000 copies, is a narrative-driven interactive fiction game centered around player choice. In our review, we called The Stanley Parable a unique player experiment "we should all celebrate."
Drama Mamas: Overreacting
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. We've got a twofer for you this week. Are these letter writers overreacting? Dear Drama Mamas, Hello! I have recently ran into a problem with my GuildMaster, who we will call C. I was questing in a zone, when one player says in General chat, "He (referring to Sha of Anger) is not up yet." My GuildMaster, who was also in the zone says, "That's what she said. ;D" Now I would have no problem with this, if our guild rules did not say specifically, "Each [GUILD NAME] is held accountable for his or her actions. Everyone is subject to a "three-strike" rule, meaning that an infraction of the above guild rules, and/or doing foolish or thoughtless things that would cause [GUILD NAME] to be seen in a poor light to the general populace of the realm will win you a warning." and one of those above rules include..."Keep chat and Ventrilo chatter PG-rated. Stay away from political, sexual and religious discussions."
The Guild Counsel: A color-blind world
A couple of interesting points came out of last week's review of The Raid, and I'm going to use them as a springboard for this week's column. There were two topics that dominated the discussion: one was Edward Castronova's analogy of raiding as sport and the downing of the Lich King as a World Cup Championship victory. The other was about the use of inappropriate language in game, including some racist and sexist remarks. In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll look at soccer and sexism, and we'll see why Castronova was worth hearing out and why there's a big difference between what players say and what they do.
The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: The battle-scarred blogger
I've long since enjoyed doing this column because, to me, it feels like the next best thing to having been there back in the day, playing these games. No one MMO player can occupy all titles at once, so experiences are bound to pass us by. Fortunately, the gamers who were there have long memories and are often more than willing to share a story or two if given half the chance. After last week's initial foray into our Shadowbane retrospective, I fished around for a hearty veteran of the minotaur wars who was willing to step up and answer a few questions without succumbing to post-traumatic stress disorder. Within a minute, my good friend Grimnir bit into the topic, and I reeled him in as he flopped and gasped for air. At some point, this metaphor got away from me, but no worries. Hit that jump and let's cast our nets down memory river and see what we can dredge up!
The Perfect Ten: The 10 people you meet in MMO hell
"Hell is other people," the jaunty Jean-Paul Sartre wrote in No Exit. In this play, three characters are locked together in a small room, where they gradually realize that they are there to torment each other for all of eternity. Plus, there are no toilets, and that's going to get unpleasant fast. It's fun for the whole family -- get your tickets today! We've all met folks in game who leave an unpleasant taste in our mouths for a long time after. With the all of the good of social games comes the seedy underbelly (henceforth referred to as "Camden, New Jersey"), and for every stellar soul you connect with, there is another lying in wait to destroy your day. If MMO heaven is full of supportive guildies and grammatically correct chat channels, then think of MMO hell as a pick-up group gone horribly awry as you run a dungeon that never ends, a dungeon you can never quit. While we'd never voluntarily go to MMO hell, it was inevitable that some of its denizens have escaped to walk amongst us in our games even today. Who are these nefarious devils? Hit the jump to find out!
PSA: Not all Italian Americans are descended from Mafia 2
Wednesday 18 August Weight: Ugh. I don't even want to know what I weigh after inhaling that slice. Food consumed today: Do I really have to spell it out again? P. I. Z. Z. A. And I know for sure the guys running that joint aren't in the mafia or whatever. I don't even think they're Italian. Evening. Cloudy. A good night for the gym. Oh Diary, what to do about these UNICO National people? They've gone and denounced Mafia 2 as a "pile of racist nonsense" -- which is great to get some added publicity a week before launch. Lord knows this game has been in development for-ever. But still, to suggest the game will "indoctrinate a new generation into directly associating Italians and Italian Americans with violent, murderous organized crime" -- really? Mafia 2 is clearly a period piece. I mean, look at the cars in that game. Oh, and those clothes! What a riot! Frankly, and I don't think I'm alone here, when I think Italian American -- sure, I used to think The Godfather, and then it was The Sopranos -- but now it's GTL, you know? Those are good values. I mean, look just how far a strong body can take you. And who wants to walk around looking all pale? Which reminds me! I need to go schedule my dry cleaning to be delivered in the morning. TTYL! -Zelny
Drama Mamas: Racism and setting social standards
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. We love updates! We've already heard back from the writer of last week's letter, Hacking a friend's account. Hi, I recently sent in an email to the Drama Mamas; it was the "hacking a friend's account" one. Just sending this in to say thanks, he gave me a ring today, I manned up and answered it and probably wouldn't of done if not for you. We made up, both said sorry and I gave him his password back. So all's well that ends well -- and sticking with a common theme, an end to situations that have no place in our game is what's on tap this week, too. The topic: racism and hate speech. (Before we begin: Standard warning for comments -- we'll be removing those that veer off the subject of handling racist hate speech in game, so please stay on topic and keep the language civil so we can have a productive conversation.)
Blood Sport: Should racials be removed?
Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all-things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column. Listening Music: Fix You, the author's favorite Coldplay song. The best part of this performance, the "crowd run," happens 3 minutes into it. Watch it, if just for that. Last Week: Last week, we discussed the racials of blood elves, undead, and trolls, oh my! The last two Blood Sport articles look at racial abilities from a perspective of effectiveness in the arena. This Week: We'll be discussing racials, for the third (and last) week straight. A lot of arena players would rather play without racials entirely. On ArenaJunkies, there are lots of people who subscribe to a nerf movement every few weeks and add a little signature or avatar in to say "nerf Will of the Forsaken" or "nerf Every Man For Himself." What if racials got removed? Would WoW be better or worse because of it? I have an opinion on it that I'm going to share with you -- hopefully you'll agree. So let's weigh some arguments for removing racials... Cons (removing racials would be bad): Identity The forsaken just wouldn't be the same without those three translucent exclamation points. Before I played WoW, I saw a video of an orc using Blood Fury, and I was amazed. The animation looks so cool, and you can get it at level one! Every time I see a tauren shaman run to me, I instinctively jump behind a pillar. It'd be hard for me to get it out of my system that he can't War Stomp anymore.
Blood Sport: Alliance racials
Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all-things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column. Listening Music: Sting with some of my favorite folk, "The Snow, It Melts the Soonest." Although this version isn't my favorite, it's one of the only videos with decent quality I could find -- and it's by Sting, gotta love Sting. Last Week: We talked about season eight compositions and trends, particularly in 3v3. Not much has changed since then. Check it out if you have the time, it's still very relevant. This Week: We'll be discussing the wonderful imbalances we call "racials" for arena. The alliance have historically had worse PvP racials than their horde counterparts, but this might have changed in WotLK. Remember back to a time when race changes didn't exist. In vanilla WoW and The Burning Crusade, players had to reroll or deal with the racials that they originally chose, even if those racials got nerfed or buffed. These racials were also far more imbalanced than they are today, which added insult to injury for certain race / class combinations. Dwarf Stoneform: Activate to remove poison, disease, and bleed effects; +10% Armor; Lasts 8 seconds. 2 minute cooldown. This racial is a shadow of what it once was. Pre-WotLK, this racial would give a 8 second immunity to poison, disease, and bleed effects. The difference is enormous -- removing a 50% healing debuff in Wound Poison for an 8 second window allowed the dwarf to receive some massive heals. The racial was also on a three minute cooldown, but most PvPers will tell you that the shortened cooldown does not make up for the 8 second immunity. Dwarf priests and hunters had a much easier time surviving against rogues in The Burning Crusade, which is probably the reason the racial was nerfed for WotLK.
GLAAD fights homophobia in online communities like WoW
We've talked here on the site before about this issue -- the anonymity in online communities like World of Warcraft often leads to people throwing out offensive statements that they usually wouldn't in normal company. Most people shrug these off as just what happens in online games ("kids will be kids, and idiots will be idiots"), but this type of undercurrent behavior still signifies and perpetuates prejudices and hatreds that affect society at large. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has recently started up a campaign to try and stamp out hatred and homophobia in communities like World of Warcraft, and they've published an op-ed on exactly why this is such a problem and what we can do to stop it. They don't mention WoW specifically, but we're one of the biggest online communities out there, and if nothing else, here's a chance to show just how tolerant we as a community can be.The good news is that as the practice of online gaming grows, both players and policymakers are becoming more and more aware of the problem -- Microsoft met earlier this year with representatives from GLAAD to determine how better to combat offensive statements on Xbox Live, and the organization held a panel recently to discuss exactly this issue.Thanks, Joshua!
