PlayStation 3's new problem: Censorship

PC World chronicles the latest controversies plaguing the PS3 -- perhaps this wasn't the year of the PlayStation 3 after all.

Not the year of the PS3?

Not the year of the PS3?

Sony's PlayStation 3 has hit hard times. The company has slashed production costs by 35 percent, yet the console still sells at a loss--and those sales dropped 19 percent last month from a year earlier. But these are not the only problems Sony is facing: Now comes a free speech issue surrounding banned words from the PlayStation's "Home." Sony has run into trouble with its efforts to quell what some may consider offensive language.

Sony has banned the use of the words "gay," "lesbian," "bi-sexual" and "Jew" -- among others -- as club names, and is filtering them from text chats. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that this has left certain groups unable to express their solidarity. For instance, a gay allegiance could not give themselves any moniker containing the word "gay," for it would be filtered out.

While it is in Sony's best interests to quell hate speech, banning words that are only negative when used in certain contextual situations plays on wobbly ground. Xbox Live experienced a similar issue earlier this year when it banned the username "theGAYERgamer." This case of censorship became even more complicated when Richard Gaywood tried to use his surname as a username and was banned. Similar censorship controversies arose when Wikipedia banned an image in the UK and Facebook censored breastfeeding photos.

"Home" has also suffered conflicts with racism and sexism. An Ars Technica reader reports, "You can't walk far [in "Home"] without finding people yelling obscene crap back and forth. So maybe they're tweaking the default voice settings, because Sony is going to have a real problem selling this world to families."

Add to this list of problems the fact that the PS3 is no longer the cheapest Blu-ray disc player on the market and you're left with a fledging console bleeding money and struggling to maintain order in its social applications. While I do not believe this spells an immediate disaster for the PS3, these circumstances carry with them a weight that does not bode well for consumers. If these tiny earthquakes persist, we could be witnessing the beginning of the end.

via PC World

THE VERDICT by Blake Snow Blake Snow's Avatar Talk about a slippery slope. I'd hate to be in any moderator's shoes. So what's the compromise?

Comments [56]

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monkbaine

My guess is Sony doesn't have many other ways to keep Home something the entire family can get into. Yahoo ran into the same type of issues with its Instant Messenger program. I'll stick with Sony though,even if they stop production of the PS3 altogether. I'm satisfied with what they've done so far and I'm patient enough to wait for what ever they plan to bring to the table in '09

war02orc

ok, here's a solution. Impliment a super strict filter and make it OPTIONAL. Families with children or people that don't want to be dealing with obscenities can turn on the text chat filter (sorry, no suggestion for voice chat, that's a grey area to begin with. On top of that, be prepared to wield a ban hammer like crazy to take care of really offensive things. Sony, you can't take the easy way out with this one. It's a full time commitment.

slickjames

LOL Richard Gaywood.......funniest name ever my head almost exploded from all the jokes rushing in at once.

Fat_bot

I'm a huge free-speech advocate, so I say no bans on words themselves, but Home is owned by Sony and they set the rules, not the government. They're free to do as they will, but I think huge speech bans will curtail Home's potential.

ChokaDaChicken

Home, right now, is whack as hell, I'd rather play against people than meet and chat with people, if I like the game or competition, I'd request them as a friend, none of that falling in love with another dudes avatar shit, come on

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