Black Ops Swastika Emblems Will Earn Xbox Live Ban

Tom Goldman

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Aug 17, 2009
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Black Ops Swastika Emblems Will Earn Xbox Live Ban



Xbox Live's chief enforcer is not going to put up with swastika use in Call of Duty: Black Ops no matter what you say.

Players of Call of Duty: Black Ops [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Black-Ops-Xbox-360/dp/B003JVKHEQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290386592&sr=8-1] have the ability to create their own emblems for use during play, a feature that has the potential for offensive use. Director of Xbox Live policy and enforcement Stephen Toulouse has taken to his blog to make sure that players know they can't use the swastika as an emblem despite its historical significance unrelated to the Nazi party. Doing so will earn an Xbox Live ban, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

He writes [http://www.stepto.com/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=635] that even if you point out that the swastika goes back thousands of years and has been used as a symbol in various religions such as Buddhism, it's not acceptable for use on Xbox Live. When asked if it could be used freely, he replied: "No, of course you can't, we'll ban you."

Toulouse feels that most people will look at the swastika and think about Nazis and the genocide the party committed in World War II. Is he wrong? He points out that its context cannot be explained through Xbox Live, so the swastika is therefore considered offensive on the service even if you personally don't think it is.

"The Xbox Live profile and in game content you create is accessible by everyone," he writes. "You do not have the context inside of it to explain your long winded contrarian view that your pithy text that violates the Terms of Use or Code of Conduct is actually intended to change people's minds about a commonly held understanding."

"It's not political correctness, it's fundamental respect," Toulouse adds. "If you think the swastika symbol should be re-evaluated by societies all over the Earth, I think that's great. Your Xbox Live profile or in game logo, which doesn't have the context to explain your goal, is not the right place to do that."

This applies to any other similar symbol as well. I'm somewhat baffled that Toulouse had to come out with such a strong statement on the issue. Swastikas have been cut completely [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104983-Swastikas-Cut-From-Japanese-Black-Ops] from certain versions of Black Ops, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that the world is still sensitive about the symbol. I mean, it was sort of attached to one of the worst events in the planet's history. If you really think you should be able to use it, just calm down and switch to a horse with gun hands instead. Isn't that way better anyway?

Source: Stephen Toulouse's Blog [http://www.stepto.com/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=635]

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-Samurai-

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Oct 8, 2009
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DannibalG36 said:
Stupid Nazis. Why did you have to ruin the swastika for everyone else?
They didn't. The people that refuse to see it as anything other than a Nazi symbol ruin it for everyone else.
 

subject_87

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Jul 2, 2010
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...Now how about a ban (or other punishment) on the countless people with a penis as their icon? (I swear, if you drink a shot every time you see that, you'll be dead of liver failure within 10 minutes.)
 

teh_Canape

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May 18, 2010
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I don't get it

wasn't the swastika the symbol of luck or some shit?

and that the nazis took it, turned and it around? =P
 

RatRace123

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Dec 1, 2009
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Why'd they even give people the ability to create emblems?
If it's not swastikas then it'll just be dicks.
 

AstylahAthrys

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Apr 7, 2010
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subject_87 said:
...Now how about a ban (or other punishment) on the countless people with a penis as their icon? (I swear, if you drink a shot every time you see that, you'll be dead of liver failure within 10 minutes.)
Hopefully they will get to that after they get rid of the swastikas. Personally, I say ban them because even though there is a meaning to them besides the Nazis, they were used by the Nazis, and that's not funny, clever or cool.
 

AugustFall

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May 5, 2009
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I thought the Swastika was a backwards version of the Buddhist symbol. Is that not right?
 

mad825

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Mar 28, 2010
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I see irony in this, controlling content in a community seems all too common.
 

Atmos Duality

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Mar 3, 2010
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To be fair, the Nazis only committed one of the most heinous crimes in recorded human history.
That's probably going to be its default/commonly known context from now until doomsday.

The ban isn't unreasonable at all, and most people who use it will be doing so to troll.
Unless you think most 12-24 year olds actually understand the history and nature of the symbol prior to WW2.
Yeah...not fucking likely.
 

YeyJordan

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Mar 28, 2010
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I don't even use the swastika as my icon and I'm a bit frosted by this story. Just another example of political correctness trumping all logic or choice. If Microsoft - or before them, even, the ESRB - had an issue with the swastika, why was Black Ops rated and published on the Xbox?

"It's not political correctness, it's fundamental respect," my backside. Fantastic job painting prickery as nobility.
 

The Austin

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Jul 20, 2009
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killamanhunter said:
If only Notch would do the same thing. I can only drop the banhammer so many times...
Minecraft mod, eh?

OP: I think he should also ban everyone who's emblem says "FAIL", AKA 97% of the player base.
 

qazmatoz

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Sep 17, 2009
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AstylahAthrys said:
subject_87 said:
...Now how about a ban (or other punishment) on the countless people with a penis as their icon? (I swear, if you drink a shot every time you see that, you'll be dead of liver failure within 10 minutes.)
Hopefully they will get to that after they get rid of the swastikas. Personally, I say ban them because even though there is a meaning to them besides the Nazis, they were used by the Nazis, and that's not funny, clever or cool.
Terrorists used planes to kill people, therefore we should ban planes. Yay logic.