Sign a pledge against bigotry in the gaming community

By compl3x
in Gamers' Hangout

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

compl3x

Posted
Posted

Most of us have had the misfortune of interacting with the hate speech-spewing jerks on Xbox Live or elsewhere while trying to enjoy a good game. The bigotry encountered online is obnoxious at best and hurtful at worst, and perhaps the most frustrating aspect is that there is no intrinsic connection between online gaming and hate speech.

Enter Gamers Against Bigotry, which has relaunched recently after spreading the word at SXSW. On the GAB site you can sign a pledge to refrain from using bigoted language while gaming. Were it only that, it seems like the message would be lost on those who truly need to hear it, but the organization has plans to take the pledge numbers to developers and rally for more effective ways to deal with offenders. It's a lofty goal, but it's a righteous one.

Read more at http://www.destructoid.com/sign-a-pledge-against-bigotry-in-the-gaming-community-248823.phtml#mM3BaozXI8wP4zoz.99

Sign the pledge...Or, ya know, don't.

Grand Master

trag3dy

Posted
Posted

I'd be more for a pledge that was for banning all 14 year olds with their super high pitched voices from playing M rated games like Call of Duty. That would stop about 90% of it right there.

Valiant goal though I guess. Although I won't sign it myself I wish these people luck.

Grand Master

trag3dy

Posted
Posted

you want to ban "hate speech". I think you wanting to violate my freedom is hate speech so ban yourself please!

Actually according to the ToS you agree to when you sign up for xbox live or other online games you don't have a right to "hate speech" as you put it. Most games have rules against it. It's just a matter of if those rules are enforced or not.

For example in Guild Wars 2. There is a swear filter in that game, however the presence of a swear filter does not in any way, shape, or form, give people the right to say whatever they want. Cursing, bigotry or otherwise. People just assume it does and it's quite amusing when they get banned for it and say "but there's a swear filter!" (yes, anet does actually full ban a lot of people for swearing repeatedly in public channels). It clearly states in the ToS, code of conduct, etc that those things are not tolerated and can result in the termination of your account.

You can do and say what you want. Yes. But just like everything else in life don't be surprised when there are consequences for your actions.

  • Brandon H, PsychD and compl3x
  • Like 3
Enthusiast

PsychD

Posted
Posted

I've seen many fun reactions on this exact topic across various boards now. And there's always someone claiming that they have freedom of speech on their side. But these are the people not knowing what freedom of speech actually means in a legal matter. There is and always will be limitations to the freedom of speech, out in the world there is laws about slander and racism etc. In the gaming world there is the ToS, that in multiplayer games usually have a section about hate speech not being allowed / a banable offense.

So it's sad to hear a 14 year old kid, being allowed to play while he spews out racist slurs, homophobic comments and what not. He won't get banned unless it's really, really extremely bad. The companies know that these are the kids paying for their game, using their parents credit cards to buy the newest DLC's etc.

I see this petition as more of a cry for help to the gaming industry - The companies need to rise up, there needs to be consequenses for peoples actions. A shame it won't help one bit.

  • trag3dy and Guth
  • Like 2
Grand Master

farmeunit

Posted
Posted

you want to ban "hate speech". I think you wanting to violate my freedom is hate speech so ban yourself please!

Do you know what free speech is? Obviously not...

Your argument isn't even valid.

Grand Master

exotoxic

Posted
Posted

I'd be more for a pledge that was for banning all 14 year olds with their super high pitched voices from playing M rated games like Call of Duty.

Well in the UK it is illegal, but there is no way to enforce the law.

Anyway i find it pretty funny listening to people taking it so seriously, and i find it even funnier when its actually directed at me personally.

Veteran

Alwaysonacoffebreak

Posted
Posted

Actually according to the ToS you agree to when you sign up for xbox live or other online games you don't have a right to "hate speech" as you put it. Most games have rules against it. It's just a matter of if those rules are enforced or not.

For example in Guild Wars 2. There is a swear filter in that game, however the presence of a swear filter does not in any way, shape, or form, give people the right to say whatever they want. Cursing, bigotry or otherwise. People just assume it does and it's quite amusing when they get banned for it and say "but there's a swear filter!" (yes, anet does actually full ban a lot of people for swearing repeatedly in public channels). It clearly states in the ToS, code of conduct, etc that those things are not tolerated and can result in the termination of your account.

You can do and say what you want. Yes. But just like everything else in life don't be surprised when there are consequences for your actions.

Only problem is that no ToS out there is above the law. No matter what they say. I know some companies have said in their ToS that you can sue them as well but that isn't stopping you and ToS is nothing in court if there's a law stating the opposite.

Also I agree that companies need to start enforcing the age ratings more strictly, that would already cut down the bull**** by half.

Veteran

Athernar

Posted
Posted

Rather than wasting time with pledges, how about we all collectively stop caring so much about what some random internet person said.

Some kiddie said something mean because he was mad you kept killing him ingame? Big deal, so what?

Next time you encounter someone spewing homophobic "slurs", roleplay a stereotypical gay guy and start hitting on them. They'll either shut up or massively ragequit in the most hilarious fashion.

  • SharpGreen and astropheed
  • Like 2
Grand Master

ILikeTobacco

Posted
Posted

Only problem is that no ToS out there is above the law. No matter what they say. I know some companies have said in their ToS that you can sue them as well but that isn't stopping you and ToS is nothing in court if there's a law stating the opposite.

Also I agree that companies need to start enforcing the age ratings more strictly, that would already cut down the bull**** by half.

Above the law... I don't think it means what you think it means. Above the law means making things legal that are illegal. ToS have you give up your right to something, which is not illegal. If you sign a ToS, which in these cases playing the game is you signing it, you are giving up rights. You have the right to give up your rights in exchange for something.
Veteran

Alwaysonacoffebreak

Posted
Posted

Yeah maybe my English isn't so good to express what I actually meant but I'm pretty sure you understood what I meant by it.

For example, MS services agreement states this:

"IF YOU LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES, SECTION 10 CONTAINS A BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER. IT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS ABOUT HOW TO RESOLVE ANY DISPUTE WITH MICROSOFT. PLEASE READ IT."

This would never work in the EU. I'm not even sure how can it work in the USA, you're practically giving away your right that is given to you by laws set in place. (Maybe there are no particular laws or there are loopholes, not sure as I don't know their laws that much in the first place). Which actually implies that their ToS is "above" the law which is in no way possible.

Grand Master

Noir Angel

Posted
Posted

It's funny how it's usually the bigots that shout "you're violating my freedom of speech" most loudly. It's not a legal requirement to be a jerk just because you can. In fact if you think it's necessary to live your life as a bigot, you're the one that has something wrong with you.

  • Alwaysonacoffebreak
  • Like 1
Grand Master

DirtyLarry Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Hate to say it, they are actually giving these types of people even more power by starting this website to begin with.

By acknowledging their idiotic behavior has a negative affect, it encourages them to do it even more.

Truth of the matter is, idiots exist. Racist ones on top of that. Not much to do about it other then ignore them entirely.

For awhile I had everyone muted on Live except my friends. Worked out pretty good.

Grand Master

trag3dy

Posted
Posted

The perfect video for describing the problem.

WARNING, loud high pitched 14 year olds and swearing. If you watch it don't have your volume very high. :rofl:

These kids have 0 right to behave like this. Really, they don't even have the right to play the game. The sad part is "adults" aren't exempt from that kind of behavior either.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Google reportedly limited Meta's Gemini access over limited AI compute

      By Karthik Mudaliar · Posted

      Google reportedly limited Meta's Gemini access over limited AI compute by Karthik Mudaliar Google is reportedly limiting Meta's use of its Gemini AI models after Meta tried buying more computing capacity than even Google could supply. According to the Financial Times, Google told Meta in March that it could not provide the full Gemini capacity that Meta had requested. This shortfall even disrupted and delayed some of Meta's internal projects. Due to this, Meta even told its employees internally to use AI tokens more efficiently. Meta wasn't the only one to get hit by this sudden refusal by Google; even other customers were affected. But Meta was hit harder because of its unusually high demand for Google's models. The move from Google makes it evident that companies all over are in limited supply of both infrastructure and compute. Alphabet said in April that Google Cloud revenue grew 63% year-over-year to $20 billion in the first quarter, helped by enterprise AI infrastructure and AI solutions. In pursuit of more compute, Meta had earlier signed a multi-billion-dollar AWS agreement as well as a large AMD GPU deal for AI data centers. But the crunch would be short-lived as both Meta and Google have also ramped up infrastructure investments heavily. Meta said in November that it was committing more than $600 billion in the U.S. by 2028 for AI technology, infrastructure, and workforce expansion. In the first quarter of this year, Meta also raised its expected capital expenditure for 2026 to a range of $125 billion to $145 billion, citing higher component pricing and additional data center costs for future capacity. However, this doesn't make the company immune to the current dependence on outside suppliers. Meta has also spent many years promoting Llama as an open-weight alternative to closed models from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. But if the reported reliance on Google's Gemini models is severe enough for internal work to get impacted, then it looks like even frontier labs and Big Tech aren't fully self-sufficient. Source: Financial Times
    • Samsung, Amazon extend 990 PRO 2TB NVMe SSD deal beyond Prime Day 2026

      By seeprime · Posted

      I like to reminisce about the good old days, way back in autumn 2025 when building a gaming machine was fun and the drives were about $150 when you caught a deal. Yes duh, back in the day we had it gone. Then baby Skynet came along, hiding in AI datacenters demanding more processing power until it reached singularity. End of a not totally fictional story.
    • Bypassed Windows 11 shows surprising stability on ancient, completely unsupported hardware

      By +Spark99 · Posted

      My experience in the past with older Windows 11 builds was not great on unsupported machines but I recently used Rufus to put the latest build on a older 5th Gen Core Thinkpad T that we upgraded with a SATA SSD and 8GB of RAM four years ago when hardware was reasonable and it seemed pretty fast and solid. Customer is very happy with the performance and will probably get four more years out of that venerable laptop that he loves so much. Another customer just retired his Dell Studio laptop from 2009 running Windows 10. It got an SSD over 10 years ago and did everything he needed it to for 17 years but he also retired last year and is happy doing everything on his iPad now.
    • Apple's newest AirTag 2 gets first big discount

      By TarasBuria · Posted

      Apple's newest AirTag 2 gets first big discount by Taras Buria In late January 2026, Apple introduced its second-generation AirTag trackers, bringing a refresh to the old model that has been on the market for half a decade. Now, you can get these new trackers at an all-time low price, thanks to the first big discount that brought the price down by 17% on Amazon. While the second-generation AirTag looks identical to its predecessor, it packs meaningful upgrades inside. The second-gen ultrawideband chip works 50% farther than the original AirTag, allowing you to detect lost items in a wider range. In addition, the second-generation AirTag features an upgraded Bluetooth chip for extended range and a significantly louder speaker (up to 50%) so that you can hear it better when locating a lost item. Note that the second-gen AirTag only works with iPhones and iPads that run iOS/iPadOS 26 and newer, so you need a compatible device to use the tracker. Like the original AirTag, the AirTag 2 is available in two packs: one and four pieces. Both are now available at a notable discount on Amazon, and you can purchase them using the links below. Apple AirTag 2 tracker - $24 | 17% off on Amazon Apple AirTag 2 tracker (four-pack) - $89 | 10% off on Amazon Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S.- specific and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • Tidal won't monetize AI slop music, company says

      By monterxz · Posted

      I've been on Deezer for over a decade, but glad that Tidal joined them in fighting AI slop. Can't stand such takes as Spotify's: "Spotify's CEO recently pushed back against listeners who call AI music "slop," urging people to stop using the term and instead embrace the creative potential of AI music."

  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Week One Done
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      BA the Curmudgeon earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Conversation Starter
      rosiecharles earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      KMilenkoski1202 earned a badge
      First Post

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      536
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      265
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      150
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      98
    5. 5
      macoman
      66
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!