{"id":2378335,"date":"2024-12-10T08:03:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T13:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-riot-games-policy-puts-players-free-speech-in-jeopardy\/"},"modified":"2024-12-10T08:10:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T13:10:04","slug":"new-riot-games-policy-puts-players-free-speech-in-jeopardy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-riot-games-policy-puts-players-free-speech-in-jeopardy\/","title":{"rendered":"New Riot Games Policy Puts Players&#8217; Free Speech In Jeopardy"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnew-riot-games-policy-puts-players-free-speech-in-jeopardy%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2378335&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Riot Games, the developer behind &#8220;League of\u2064 Legends,&#8221; has updated its terms of service to extend \u2063its authority beyond in-game behavior, allowing it to punish players for actions perceived as violations that occur on \u2062non-Riot platforms. This controversial move was announced in late november and \u200baims to protect players from harmful behaviors associated with their gaming experience. Despite Riot&#8217;s claims that these updates are specifically targeted at content \u200brelated to its\u200c games, many are concerned that this approach infringes on individuals&#8217; rights to free speech and property.&#8221;League\u200c of Legends,&#8221; which attracts millions of players and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">features lucrative esports tournaments<\/a>, is a significant player in the gaming industry, making such changes particularly noteworthy.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>&ldquo;League of Legends&rdquo; developer Riot Games has decided its virtual battlefields aren&rsquo;t enough; the fight to counter wrongthink must extend off-platform as well through a disturbing update to its terms of service.<\/p>\n<p>For those out of the loop, &ldquo;League&rdquo; is one of the biggest games currently on the market. Millions of players log in to play daily, and esports tournaments featuring &ldquo;League&rdquo; have boasted prize pools of more than <a href=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/games\/esports-world-cup-will-have-record-breaking-prize-pool-of-more-than-60m\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$60 million<\/a>. The game has spawned myriad merchandising opportunities, spinoffs, and even a critically acclaimed Netflix animated series called &ldquo;Arcane.&rdquo;&nbsp;To call &ldquo;League&rdquo; a cornerstone of the gaming industry would be an understatement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On that note, Riot announced it plans to punish players in-game for alleged violations that occurred on non-Riot services. In a late November post announcing the change, Riot <a href=\"https:\/\/www.riotgames.com\/en\/news\/creator-related-updates-riot-privacy-notice-terms-of-service\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>, &ldquo;Our intention with this update is to help protect players from harmful behaviors they can experience across the various places that touch their gaming experience.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Anticipating pushback, Riot preemptively tried damage control and argued, &ldquo;This update applies very specifically and only to content where Riot&rsquo;s games are the background of the content produced.&rdquo; Yet even this is a bridge too far when it comes to protecting individuals&rsquo; free speech and property rights.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is easy to imagine that once given the power to moderate off-platform content, Riot will enforce political litmus tests for players to maintain access to their games. As Riot&rsquo;s November post explains, &ldquo;If you say or do things that break our Terms of Service while broadcasting or creating content about our games, we can restrict access to your Riot accounts (and suspend your Partner privileges if you are part of our Partner Program).&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We&rsquo;ve seen how &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-viral-olympics-moment-female-fighter-hilariously-roasts-boxer-who-failed-gender-test\/\" title=\"Watch Viral Olympics Moment: Female Fighter Hilariously Roasts Boxer Who Failed Gender Test\">hate speech&#038;rdquo<\/a>; is endlessly weaponized against people the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-thanks-to-unity\/\" title=\"No thanks to unity\">left doesn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t like. What if a &ldquo;League&rdquo; streamer questions the proliferation of DEI initiatives in the gaming industry or expresses support for Donald Trump on his channel? Will Riot invoke the new terms of service to strip him of his ability to play?<\/p>\n<p>Riot has already demonstrated it serves woke masters. Last June, the company went <a href=\"https:\/\/www.riotgames.com\/en\/news\/riot-pride-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">crazy<\/a> for &ldquo;pride month,&rdquo; releasing emoticons, an LGBT-themed Spotify playlist, and more. There is zero chance Riot would view gamers uncomfortable with woke ideology with anything but pure scorn, setting the stage for massive real-world consequences.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;League&rdquo; and many of Riot&rsquo;s other products give players the option to purchase customizable cosmetics, weapons, and other in-game items with real money. If this trial run in authoritarianism is allowed to proceed, there will be consequences for gamers who either rely on streaming to make a living or casual players who invested money into the games &mdash; all for disagreeing with wokeness.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>All this assumes that Riot stops at only banning people engaging with its own content. What&rsquo;s to prevent the company from enforcing speech codes on unrelated platforms like X or Facebook? We&rsquo;ve seen this happen before with other companies that cut ties with streamers who express non-leftist opinions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Activision Blizzard <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/22\/call-of-duty-parent-company-censors-streamer-for-defending-kids-from-trans-agenda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">removed<\/a> in-game content featuring popular &ldquo;Call of Duty&rdquo; streamer &ldquo;Nickmercs&rdquo; after he tweeted support for parents fighting LGBT indoctrination in schools. &ldquo;They should leave little children alone. That&rsquo;s the real issue,&rdquo; he tweeted, which led to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/transgender-influencer-dylan-mulvaney-blasts-bud-light-over-lack-of-support-scared-to-leave-my-house\/\" title=\"Trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney slams Bud Light for lack of support, fears leaving home.\">company severing ties<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Why wouldn&rsquo;t Riot follow suit? It has shown what side of the political aisle it has decided to support. And if there&rsquo;s anyone who unabashedly and viciously tries to get its opposition removed from platforms, it&rsquo;s woke cultists.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Riot is treading dangerously here. Gamers lose when ideologues overreach to enforce dogma outside their own platforms. No one denies Riot&rsquo;s right to enforce server-based terms of service. But expanding its reach to off-platform behavior suggests an effort less focused on cleaning up servers and more focused on enforcing ideological purity.<\/p>\n<p>Those kinds of purity tests are responsible for the degradation of gaming into yet another frontier in the culture war. Gamers should reject this policy change wholesale and demand that Riot stick to its own lane.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Or <a href=\"https:\/\/leagueoflegends.fandom.com\/wiki\/Lanes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lanes<\/a>, I suppose. You&rsquo;d think the company that made &ldquo;League&rdquo; would be familiar with <a href=\"https:\/\/leagueoflegends.fandom.com\/wiki\/Lanes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">that concept<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p>      Douglas Blair is a cultural commentator and author of <a href=\"https:\/\/douglasblair.substack.com\/\">The Blair Broadcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Riot Games expands its terms of service to include off-platform behavior<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1733,"featured_media":2378336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-06-at-4.22.15%E2%80%AFPM.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[39820,32311,46481,46482,46480],"class_list":["post-2378335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-community-impact","tag-free-speech","tag-gaming-policy","tag-player-rights","tag-riot-games"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-06-at-4.22.15%E2%80%AFPM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1733"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2378335"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2378339,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378335\/revisions\/2378339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2378336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2378335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2378335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2378335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}