Riot Games: Please recognize and disavow hate speech on the basis of disability.
For context, I am autistic. I am one of MANY autistic people who play this game. I am writing today about a discrepancy I have noticed with how rules on hate speech are enforced in regards to hate speech and slurs for disability.
As should be plain to everyone, Riot is very explicit about slurs not being tolerated, even when used in an "I'm just playing" context. Use them in your games and you will probably get at least a chat ban. If an LCS pro were to go on stream today and drop the N-word or call their teammate a homophobic epithet, Riot would have something to say about that. Heck, one pro player in particular can't even use his old subscription catchphrase anymore (you know who I mean by this, and yes, I don't feel that it was a problem either, but that's not my call). Clearly, there are well defined rules on this matter.
The problem here is that when the problem speech is discriminatory on the basis of disability, the rules are not nearly as strongly enforced. The use of the word "retard" is quite common. So is "autistic" being used to refer to something a player doesn't like, or "downs" being used as an insult. For those of you who are not aware of the significance of the word to disabled people, "retard" is considered the N-word equivalent for disabled people. What players fail to recognize is that there are, in fact, autistic people and people with Down Syndrome playing this game, and quite successfully, I might add. We have the same right to play the game as any other player. We also are not keen on having players toss around these particular words. There are lots of words out there to use during times of frustration if you must do so, and I'm probably not the only one wondering why people need to use "retard" so badly. I personally have had that word used at me in the totally serious context, in the real world. There are people playing this game who have had that word used at them to mock very real disabilities. There are people playing this game who have experienced this word as a means of discrimination, not simply a joke. This word hurts people just as badly as the N-word.
Also note that when you call someone "autistic" as a means of insult, you are implying that there is something wrong with being autistic, and that autistic people shouldn't be playing the game. I am certainly allowed to be autistic and play the game. You might think "it's just a joke", but it's so much more than that to people that have experienced discrimination. That's why Riot has rules against hate speech in the first place, because they want people who experience real life discrimination to be able to have fun playing the game.
Often times when I see it happen in my games, I will tell them "hey, that's not cool to use, there are disabled people playing this game." I'll probably mute them too, but me muting them doesn't make it not a problem anymore. Riot NEEDS to make it clear that using the word "retard" is equally in poor taste as using the N-word, along with calling people "autistic" and "downs". For example, I noticed that the board rules don't explicitly prohibit hate speech on the basis of disability. It is my opinion that disabled people deserve the same level of hate speech protections as any other group Riot disallows hate speech for. I would like to request that Riot broaden their hate speech definitions to include hate speech on the basis of disability, and enforce those rules to the same degree as other hate speech is enforced.
An additional problem I see with the rule enforcement is this: LCS pros are expected to uphold a certain standard of behavior on stream and on social media by Riot. This includes expecting that these players not casually drop the N-word or things to that effect. We certainly saw Riot actively enforcing this during MSI. However, every single LCS pro (but one) whose stream I've watched has repeatedly used "retarded" or "autistic" on stream. That tells me that Riot doesn't see a problem with the usage of these words. Since LCS pros are held to a higher standard of behavior than the average player, if they are allowed to use "retard" whenever they want, the average player isn't going to see a problem either. To be clear, I don't blame pro players or think they are intentionally trying to degrade disabled people, I simply believe that they just aren't aware and that Riot has a role in making them aware.
To conclude my appeal (and congrats on reading this whole thing, by the way), I call upon Riot to officially recognize "retard" and inappropriate uses of "autistic" and "downs" as hate speech, and enforce the rules equally in regards to this matter, including with LCS pros.
tl;dr: Riot should officially declare "retard" and certain uses of "autistic" and "downs" as hate speech and enforce the hate speech rules equally.
