Boards›Player Behavior

Feeling Over Facts and How Riot's Terms of Use Definitions are too Vague

Butt Witch·9/7/2018, 3:37:15 AM·7 votes·3,710 views

OK. So I made a thread a few days ago about how after 4 years of good behavior I instantly received a 14 day suspension from 1 game for saying one word. My initial OP was a bit all over the place as it was written when I was still upset and I rambled and didn't get to my point until I assume most people stopped reading. Afterwards I amended it but it seems that it fell off anyone's radar after the first day it was posted. I would like to bring forth my argument again this time more constructed with my main point the focus as opposed to being lost in myriad of half baked thoughts. For those of you who did not see my prior thread, this is what happened; I was playing a casual game with friends, during which I called my friend a racial slur. I, being a black person, have always used it rather liberally especially with my friends. Note that the intent behind the word was teasing and not targeted at anyone else. I received a 14 day suspension after that game. I contacted Riot support to appeal it but alas I received the answer that my suspension was going to be upheld, not on the grounds of flaming, but on the grounds of racism. In the previous thread I received the line from the terms of use that goes as such > v. Transmitting or communicating any content which, in the sole and exclusive discretion of Riot Games, is deemed offensive, including language that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, sexually explicit, or racially, ethically, or otherwise objectionable;

I believe that this definition is far too vague. All swear words fall under the definition of threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene,. So the fact that racial slurs are lumped in with this definition, to me, indicated that they were just not to be used aggressively/abusively. Clearly this is not the case as despite many words falling under this definition many seem to be able to be given context. However a few unspecified words fall into a category of Zero Tolerance. You may claim that the n-word is inherently racist or inherently hate speech but I would disagree. However neither of our opinions matter, only Riot's. However I am unable to find a definite, official, Riot published and endorsed, definition of hate speech and racism which pertains to the in-game chat. I have always been taught that to be racist you have to a actively express hatred not just say a word and to use hate speech you must actively be malicious. Going by the legal and dictionary definitions of these words (in the U.S. at least) I have not done either.

17 Comments

Jo0o9/7/2018, 3:45:15 AM3 votes

I think your definition of how to handle hate speech works for, say, a comedian incorporating a slur into their act. Some folks may still be offended, but rational people will see the difference between somebody using a slur as part of a comedy act vs. invoking hatred with the word.

League, however, does give us the ability to make that distinction. Without tone, body language, inflection, and pacing, we're unable to come to an understanding of acceptable vs. hateful uses of hate speech. And so, there are really only two rational ways to handle a League player using hate speech: Allow it, or don't allow it. Attempting to judge it case-by-case would be unrealistically time consuming and wildly subjective, not to mention encouraging punished players to lie about context in an effort to gain leniency.

I believe you when you say that you had no hatred when you used that word, but I don't see a way for Riot to handle it any better than they did.

Imperial Pandaa9/7/2018, 4:42:13 AM3 votes

There has been outrage in real life for heat of the moment jokes, that held no hate. Slips of the tongues, and others. Hell as much as I hate to say it, South Park actually had a decent episode about it.

Wheel of Fortune, final puzzle, hint: people who annoy you. Current letter set up; N _ G G E R S Reluctant and wanting to win Randy shouts "N*ggers" this of course causes an uproar etc etc.

So while I agree that hate or distaste needs to be behind the word for "hate speech" until the point it is okay for everyone to say it irl, or dna is taken on account creation. Things will stay zero tolerance.

As for more detail, one would have to go to the support page to find that zero tolerance would be escalated punishment. I disagree about punlishing a list of words. As Jo0o points out, would just give work arounds and need constant updates.

mlm olo mlm9/7/2018, 2:32:10 PM3 votes

v. Transmitting or communicating any content which, in the sole and exclusive discretion of Riot Games, is deemed

AKA Riot is never wrong.

What's worst, next time you say a word that Riot doesn't agree with, your account will be permanently banned. Not even a "zero tolerance" word either. Even minor negativity can result in a permanent ban of your account. It's called escalating punishment tiers.

CharDeeMcDenniz9/7/2018, 9:39:58 AM2 votes

at heart this is still a "T" rated game

that means children play it

they usually arent good at detecting sarcasm in racism...

RIOT is spot on with this one

Alzon9/7/2018, 2:41:23 PM1 votes

It’s because this is a rated T game. Yes, all the “online interactions are not rated by the ESRB” stuff, but it’s still there to uphold the spirit behind the T rating.