Should Riot ban people for saying "keep yourself safe"?

y0r1ck·4/12/2019, 10:15:15 PM·20 votes·13,381 views

We all know what it means. Some people are starting to say it to get around the "kys" filter. How long until it becomes the new "kys" and riot has to ban a phrase that seems so harmless? Can riot even ban a phrase like this?

As of right now, I don't think enough people are saying it to be a problem. But I do think it's said enough to warrant a discussion, because it raises valid questions about the future of censorship in league. Of course the company can censor its domain, but how far are they willing to let this go?

The logical conclusion, if riot decides to ban the innocuous phrase, is a never ending game of whack-a-word. We all know the endless issues with banning offensive language, so we know this isn't a viable long term strategy. Well then Riot, what is?

132 Comments

tekmeister4/13/2019, 4:49:37 AM24 votes

SMH... Stop trying to censor everything jeez.. so someone wants to diss you, get over it. You can't protect people from the real world.

Umbral Regent4/12/2019, 10:27:53 PM10 votes

I agree that this is a worthwhile discussion to have, and here's my take on it;

As a whole, I think the phrase "keep yourself safe" should not merit punishment, despite the obvious of it being used to get around the detection filter for "kys". As it stands, even if "keep yourself safe" is being used to ~~not so~~ subtly reference "kys", the two phrases are holistically different enough that punishments for the former should, in general, be avoided.

That said, there is a caveat; I think it should at least be punishable when coupled with other indicators of toxicity, particularly low-key toxicity like negative attitude, flame-baiting, and low-severity insults. Though, I'd imagine that would only occur in the case of manual review, my point in making that distinction is that, on a per-case basis, off-color references/meming with the innocuous phrase should be generally fine, while obvious use of the phrase with malicious undertones should be dealt appropriately harsh punishment.

Taking it on a per-case basis avoids the slippery slope of - to use your own terminology - "whack-a-word", while still maintaining some standard of acceptable speech in regards to attempts to bypass the filter, whether intentionally harmful or as an off-color joke.

Arcade Lulu4/12/2019, 10:22:48 PM4 votes

It's easily detectable if that sentence is used in a genuine way or a toxic way

BreezyEff4/13/2019, 4:07:36 PM4 votes

This is just ridiculous.

TheGlowingMan4/13/2019, 5:26:27 PM4 votes

Waaaaaaaa! Waaaaaaa! I cant handle being insulted! Mommyriot! Fucking soft ass people, there should be no banned words or phrases. Its words and phrases. Get over it.

Bishasaurus Flex4/13/2019, 5:32:32 PM4 votes

If you type "kys", you deserve to be banned. You know what it means, you know what the acronym is used for. If you mean "keep yourself safe", then you would say "keep yourself safe".

This post is hilariously idiotic and I would he ashamed of myself if i posted it.

Zertryx4/14/2019, 1:06:18 AM4 votes

Honestly, just remove chat all together. Only allow pings and set phrases. Bam 90% of lol toxicity solved

Kei1434/12/2019, 10:34:23 PM3 votes

They've already banned people who say keep yourself safe within the obvious context of word replacements.

ModUlanopo4/12/2019, 10:44:13 PM3 votes

In what way would "stay safe" or "be safe" not be better choices? I feel like the vast majority of people saying "it stands for Kiss your sister" or the like do so disingenuously.

Telephone Booth4/13/2019, 2:26:24 AM3 votes

Lol my out of touch ass would be like "okay, thanks, you too bud!"

I personally think there shouldnt be ANY zero tolerance phrases. Being an asshole is just being an asshole. Different people take more offense to different things. So just punish the same for any asshole behavior, if thats what theyre trying to deter.

SuperNekoSenpai4/13/2019, 1:34:04 PM3 votes

haha funny, i already got a ban for saying it. worst of all, when you send riot a msg telling them why you get bannd for it they just say that your toxic and to have a 2 week penalty.

RanDim4/13/2019, 6:39:29 PM2 votes

(k)eep (y)ourself (s)afe New sbeve? 🤔

Sylas4/13/2019, 2:32:20 PM2 votes

Im lost as fuck are we talking about keep yourself safe or kill your self. Because i very rarely see people say kill your self and have never.. ever seen anyone say keep yourself safe

Collosius4/14/2019, 12:56:13 AM2 votes

I always thought KYS stood for '' kill your self '' and that was the reason for riot banning people.

Kommissar Jamal4/13/2019, 7:26:38 PM2 votes

I dont often use phrases like that. When it comes to flaming I have more creativity than just telling someone to commit suicide. But from now on I am definitely going to use this one whenever my adc is acting like a child that didnt have his afternoon nap. Ty

Vreivai4/13/2019, 4:36:59 AM1 votes

Beyond the "whack-a-word" issue, we also need to remember that those of us who are regulars on this board are in somewhat of a bubble. Many things that are common knowledge about the IFS to us are largely unknown to the vast majority of players. If specific words or phrases are going to be punished for any use of them, it should be widely accepted by society that their use is taboo, or they should have clearly malicious intent to virtually anyone who read it. Otherwise, you'll have people getting banned for saying things that were meant with zero malice or ill intent and they had no idea they were not allowed to say. Given that reform cards don't tell you exactly what you said that was wrong, they'll pore over the chat logs unable to find anything they did wrong, resulting in a punishment that accomplished nothing positive and may have some negative effects.

"Keep yourself safe" does not fit these criteria.

Royoten4/13/2019, 3:10:59 PM1 votes

Honestly, with how easy it is to block other players' chat, pings, and emojis, toxicity is so easy to block. I don't see why any bans should occur out of toxic behaviour. I guess I'd understand chat restriction, but banning is harsh for something you can block so easily. Furthermore, "keep yourself safe" may abbreviate to "kys," but an automated system cannot understand intention, and someone using it to mean the words getting banned is ridiculous.

mosholol14/15/2019, 7:57:32 AM1 votes

Do you know that kys means kill yourself not keep yourself safe

Disco Volante4/14/2019, 1:48:23 PM1 votes

Just lock all of our keyboard keys other than QWER, ALT 1 2 3,(no 4 because laughing Zed's are annoying) and F4. That way no one can hurt anyone, be it intentional or not

Drink on Bush4/15/2019, 2:16:26 AM1 votes

Typing ez also cause shxt a lot of argument and negative gaming. Why dont they ban ez too:) although ppl gotta type ezreal's full name now

TheRedSpear4/13/2019, 11:40:55 PM1 votes

dumb question but will i get baned when i write: "kys(Keep yourself safe)"

EndlessDusk04/14/2019, 12:47:59 AM1 votes

Hi there, I'm a History Science major so I feel like I can shed some light on why "kys" is such an offensive phrase.

Long ago, during the dark ages (1920-1950, known as the dark ages because people would sleep through the day and wake up at night) in India, there was a prince who was set the claim the throne. However, his sister was going to marry and the prince could lose his right to the throne. So, the prince asked his advisers on what to do, he received a piece of paper with only the letters "KYS" on it. He interpreted this as "Kill your sister" which the prince did, sending the country into a tailspin and leading to the end of the world. The oceans turned to blood and the sky was that ugly shade of green no one likes. Most people died, however at this point no one really cared.

However, the INTENDED message was "keep yourself safe" telling the prince to just ride it out and enjoy his land. It was due to this event that we made Daylight Savings Time, because if we kept more daylight around, we wouldn't misread messages. It's often better to just type it out to not invoke memories of such terrible events.

zPOOPz4/12/2019, 10:23:53 PM1 votes

I have a question. Do you take offense if I tell you to keep yourself safe right now? If you do (then I assume you will report), then that future is what you created. Rito will only act on your report. The way the IFS works (and learn), no report = no review = no learning = no problem. If you don't find what I said offensive, then you would not need to report. The IFS will not be triggered. Rito and the IFS will not need to act on that phase because they never get the chance to review it.

All that is to say, Rito will not be the one to decide if that phase needs to be "censored". It is the players' choice. Again, remember that the IFS is machine learning. No report = no review = no learning = no problem. If no one report that phase, the IFS is incapable of learning that to be something people don't want in their games. If enough player base report that phase, then the issue is the player base don't want that phase in their game. That's not a Rito issue.