NexusMods denounces anti-LGBTQ+ content on its platform
On Wednesday, PC game modding platform NexusMods published a blog post denouncing anti-LGBTQ+ content on the site after a mod that replaced all the Pride flags in the PC version of Spider-Man 2018 with American flags. The person who uploaded the mod was banned from the platform and the mod was removed.
According to the blog post, the account that uploaded the mod was a “sock puppet,” or one that was only recently created for someone who already has an account to hide behind. The name of the account was “Mike Hawk,” giving away the trolling intentions of the author. Because of this, the platform banned both the sock puppet and original accounts of the user. Banning the user behind this mod stirred up enough controversy in their community that the team at NexusMods felt the need to address it in the blog post.
“The fact the user needed to make a sock puppet like a coward to upload the mod showed their intent to troll and that they knew it would not be allowed,” the blog post reads. “Had they not been a coward and had they used their main account instead, we would have simply removed the mod and told them that we did not want to host it, only banning them if they reuploaded it again after being fairly warned. The creation of the sock puppet removed any doubt and made it a very easy decision for us. Both the sock puppet account and the user’s main account have been banned.”
NexusMods also made its stance on diversity and inclusion, along with “censorship,” on the platform:
“In regards to the replacement of Pride flags in this game, or any game, our policy is thus: we are for inclusivity, we are for diversity. If we think someone is uploading a mod on our site with the intent to deliberately be against inclusivity and/or diversity then we will take action against it. The same goes for people attempting to troll other users with mods deliberately to cause a rise. For our part, we will endeavour to do a better job of moderating our website to this ethos ourselves.”
“We aren’t the authority on what users can and cannot mod. Us removing a mod only means it cannot be found at Nexus Mods, nothing more, nothing less. We also note that we are not the only site that has removed this mod from their platform. As a private business, we have a right to choose what content we do and do not want to host on our platform. Respect this right the same way you want respect for your rights.”
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