Xbox head honcho Phil Spencer has made it known that the Xbox platform isn’t for free speech. In a recent interview he basically told free speech enthusiasts that they would have to look elsewhere if they didn’t want to get hit with the censorship banhammer for saying things they deemed as hate speech, basically reiterating what was mentioned prior with their updated community guidelines.
Metro.co.uk quoted Spencer as saying…
“Xbox Live is not a free speech platform. It is not a place where anybody can come and say anything. And as we’re working to ensure it’s a safe and inclusive environment for everybody, I don’t want to be opaque about it. I want to be out there front and centre so that you understand our motivation.
“I think the anonymity of the internet and the ability to comment to anybody is a really difficult place to unlock. One of the things we find in gaming that’s actually really helpful to us is that because your Xbox Live account has friends and identity and state, there seems to be – and it’s good – there seems to be a lot more care that a player takes in their identity and its reputation.”
This helps contextualize the fact that Microsoft and Xbox have been moving further and further Left, which means that they endorse and employ censorship where they see fit.
This is not the Xbox Live of old from back in the heyday of the brand’s nascence. This is the Left-wing centric Xbox that is about protecting the feelings of a minuscule percentage of players and alienating the vast majority of their core demographic, as evident with those horrible Xbox Avatars designed only to appeal to those trying to make “non-binary” characters.
Spencer is quoted as basically reiterating the exact same rhetoric as former culture critic Anita Sarkeesian, who is now too financially destitute to keep waging war against gaming. However, white knights seem to be making proclamations in her stead.
Spencer stated…
“Our Xbox Safety team is nicknamed the ‘Defenders of Joy’ because we will defend you in every humanly and technologically possible way, so gaming remains fun. Hate and harassment have no place in gaming.
“We will identify potentials for abuse and misuse on our platform and will fix problems quickly. We are also intent on expanding the composition of our safety team so wide-ranging perspectives can help us identify future safety problems and solutions.”
The “Defenders of Joy” are basically Social Justice prefects set about finding offensive posts and taking the necessary steps so that those who made the offending posts are actioned.
This means that Microsoft and Sony are practically in the same camp. Sony stripped one gamer of his digital PS4 library for “hate speech”. Microsoft sanctioned a player for having a Christian gamertag, and later censored music in Forza Horizon 4 to remove any mention of God.
Don’t expect things to get better with Project Scarlett since Microsoft will likely impose even more restrictions on gamers in a bid to cater to Social Justice Warriors.
You’re basically seeing the hardcore console market commit suicide via train wreck in slow motion.
(Thanks for the news tip johntrine)