The regulations of the playroom stipulate, among one of its main points, the prohibition of racism. However, is that enough?

I've been in the play room for almost 6 months, and something like what happened to me today, January 7, 2024, has never happened to me before.

Two people wrote to me privately, one in the morning, and another in the afternoon expressing anti-Semitic acts.

The first mentioned that we Jews were pigs, and that it was not worth remembering our Holocaust. The second, of which I paste the conversation here in Spanish (with its English translation), lamented that Hitler did not finish murdering us in the Nazi holocaust that killed almost 6 million Jewish people. I believe that beyond individual decisions such as banning accounts, measures must be taken to prevent these acts, such as a more forceful policy to avoid racism, Islamophobia, or anti-Semitism.

Any act of discrimination is reprehensible, regardless of its recipient, and I think that since the room is such a small place, it would be good for us all to feel a little safer.

Erikk says Creador_de_mundos: What is the difference between pizza and a Jew? That pizza doesn't scream when they put it in the oven.
Creador_de_mundos says Erikk: See what you say without a brain.
Erikk says to Creador_de_mundos: But with pizza!
Creador_de_mundos says to erikk: Pizza? What are you going to have, if you eat too much cardboard?
Erikk says to Creador_de_mundos: That's how they had you in the fields, just eating cardboard :D
Creador_de_mundos says to Erikk: We always revive like the phoenix, bro, unlike you indigenous neo-Nazis, who are only resentful.
Creador_de_mundos says to Erikk: Resentful of the life that gives them nothing more than being cowards who hide behind a computer to declare their anti-Semitism.
Erikk says to Creador_de_mundos: What a stupid Hitler; we are sorry because he didn't do the job well.
Erikk says to Creador_de_mundos: Do you know what Semites are? Something that is made in the oven, how ironic, right?
Creador_de_mundos says to Erikk: What are you going to do when they ban your account if you only go here?
Erikk says to Creador_de_mundos: Report, seriously? Hahaha."

in spanish:

erikk dice a Creador_de_mundos: que diferencia hay entre la pizza y un judío? que la pizza no grita cuando la meten al horno
Creador_de_mundos dice a erikk: see lo que digas sin cerebro
erikk dice a Creador_de_mundos: pero con pizza!
Creador_de_mundos dice a erikk: pizza? que vas a tener, si a mucho te comés el cartón
erikk dice a Creador_de_mundos: así los tenían a ustedes en los campos, a puro comer cartón :D
Creador_de_mundos dice a erikk: siempre revivimos como el ave fénix bro. a diferencia de ustedes los neonazis indígenas, que solo andan resentidos
Creador_de_mundos dice a erikk: resentidos con la vida que no les da más que ser unos cobardes que se esconden tras un computador para declarar su antisemitismo
erikk dice a Creador_de_mundos: q tonto hitler, nos e pq no hizo bien el trabajo
erikk dice a Creador_de_mundos: sabes lo q son las semitas? algo q se hace ene l horno, que irónico, no?
Creador_de_mundos dice a erikk: que vas a hacer cuando te baneen la cuenta si solo te llevás acá?
erikk dice a Creador_de_mundos: reportar, en serio? jajajaja
How is racism and anti-Semitism addressed in the playroom?

The regulations of the playroom stipulate, among one of its main points, the prohibition of racism. However, is that enough?

I've been in the play room for almost 6 months, and something like what happened to me today, January 7, 2024, has never happened to me before.

Two people wrote to me privately, one in the morning, and another in the afternoon expressing anti-Semitic acts.

The first mentioned that we Jews were pigs, and that it was not worth remembering our Holocaust. The second, of which I paste the conversation here in Spanish (with its English translation), lamented that Hitler did not finish murdering us in the Nazi holocaust that killed almost 6 million Jewish people. I believe that beyond individual decisions such as banning accounts, measures must be taken to prevent these acts, such as a more forceful policy to avoid racism, Islamophobia, or anti-Semitism.

Any act of discrimination is reprehensible, regardless of its recipient, and I think that since the room is such a small place, it would be good for us all to feel a little safer.

Erikk says Creador_de_mundos: What is the difference between pizza and a Jew? That pizza doesn't scream when they put it in the oven.
Creador_de_mundos says Erikk: See what you say without a brain.
Erikk says to Creador_de_mundos: But with pizza!
Creador_de_mundos says to erikk: Pizza? What are you going to have, if you eat too much cardboard?
Erikk says to Creador_de_mundos: That's how they had you in the fields, just eating cardboard :D
Creador_de_mundos says to Erikk: We always revive like the phoenix, bro, unlike you indigenous neo-Nazis, who are only resentful.
Creador_de_mundos says to Erikk: Resentful of the life that gives them nothing more than being cowards who hide behind a computer to declare their anti-Semitism.
Erikk says to Creador_de_mundos: What a stupid Hitler; we are sorry because he didn't do the job well.
Erikk says to Creador_de_mundos: Do you know what Semites are? Something that is made in the oven, how ironic, right?
Creador_de_mundos says to Erikk: What are you going to do when they ban your account if you only go here?
Erikk says to Creador_de_mundos: Report, seriously? Hahaha."

in spanish:

erikk dice a Creador_de_mundos: que diferencia hay entre la pizza y un judío? que la pizza no grita cuando la meten al horno
Creador_de_mundos dice a erikk: see lo que digas sin cerebro
erikk dice a Creador_de_mundos: pero con pizza!
Creador_de_mundos dice a erikk: pizza? que vas a tener, si a mucho te comés el cartón
erikk dice a Creador_de_mundos: así los tenían a ustedes en los campos, a puro comer cartón :D
Creador_de_mundos dice a erikk: siempre revivimos como el ave fénix bro. a diferencia de ustedes los neonazis indígenas, que solo andan resentidos
Creador_de_mundos dice a erikk: resentidos con la vida que no les da más que ser unos cobardes que se esconden tras un computador para declarar su antisemitismo
erikk dice a Creador_de_mundos: q tonto hitler, nos e pq no hizo bien el trabajo
erikk dice a Creador_de_mundos: sabes lo q son las semitas? algo q se hace ene l horno, que irónico, no?
Creador_de_mundos dice a erikk: que vas a hacer cuando te baneen la cuenta si solo te llevás acá?
erikk dice a Creador_de_mundos: reportar, en serio? jajajaja

I am sorry that happiend to u

Did you report and block? I’m sorry this happened. I feel like this issue is something that is hard to control. Afterall, it is the internet where ppl are more free to be racist and all. I’m not supporting them at all and they should be banned, but I”m sure such a rule exists already on Playroom. If it don’t, then yeah I aggree it should be updated to keep everyone safe. However, do note if that an account gets banned, you could expect to see them again under another new account they made which is sad. The best you can do is just ignore them, block and report. Do not give them any attention because indeed they just want is your reaction.
Hope you’re ok and I hope all wars stop etc

Yes, I already reported it. And yes, the rule already exists. And in fact, the option to limit who can and cannot send you messages is in the personalization settings. But there are many public places like free tables, or even the forum. In fact, the worst part was that when I published this in the Spanish-speaking room's exprésate, to raise awareness of this issue, many people justified the person who had said he regretted that Hitler didn't finish us off in the Holocaust.

There will always be ppl out there who have nothing better to do but call names and be racist like that. Understand that they have probably got some emotional problems so they feel the need bully etc.
I know how it is don’t worry. We’ve been dealing with islamicphobic since 9/11 and the now the Jews are experiencing it. It happens in real life. We get told to go back to our home countries even if we were born in that country. We get told to be bombed. At the end of the day its words and only you have the control to take it in your heart or to stand up and not have it affect you.
No one takes islamicphobic attaks seriously so this is what we had to lear or more like my viewpoint anyways. That the level of impact is basically up to me. If i wanna take it that deep or not. It’s hurtful no joke, but if we’re going to react to their posts, what they say, how they behave, then we are giving them the power instead of us. Just need to shut it down by saying you’re wrong, you need to get a life and ignore them but in a respectful way of course.
Form a community that understands your pain and share what you feel about it but for sure don’t let it affect you. Take the power, don’t give it away. I hope this makes sense.

u can block

First of all, I am really sorry for this bad experience you've encountered. It's sad to hear that there are some users who express such nazi ideologies here.
However, Emerald has brought up some important points to this discussion. We have clear rules against discriminatory behavior, including the prohibition of discussions around sensitive topics like politics and religion, to minimize conflicts and heated discussions. nevertheless, the anonymity of the internet sometimes emboldens individuals to act in ways they might not in real life, or at least not with the same intencity.
Regarding the specific incident you mentioned though, it apparently was in Spanish. As English helpers we cannot intervene, but I trust that the Spanish helpers upon receiving your report, have taken the appropriate actions.
I appreciate your call for stronger measures. It's a valid concern, However, it's also crucial to recognize that we primarily rely on users to report inappropriate behavior through F9. This allows us to take timely action, though, admittedly, it does not prevent the initial occurrence of such incidents, but that's sadly nothing in our hands, as it is in real life.
I also want to remind you that the behavior of a few individuals does not represent the entire community. The comments you received were unacceptable and deeply concerning, but they do not reflect the attitudes of most users here. We try our best to deal with those few who decide to engage in trolling and hateful comments.
Try to not let the behavior of random strangers on the internet affect you, and have a great new year ahead :)
Marina

Despicable. Truly despicable.

I so much hate this type of racism that I frequently witness. A person's race, color, religion, ideas, or anything else shouldn't matter, as long as they are morally good, treat others well, and don't harm anyone. You OP are likely to face situations like this especially in the current period with the ongoing conflict between Palestinians and the so-called Israel. Despite personally supporting the Palestinian side in this, individuals shouldn't involve themselves in the conflicts between major political fronts. Just because you're Jewish doesn't mean your stance or support aligns with what's happening in Gaza, even if it might be the opposite. What fault is it of yours if you were born Jewish? Every person and group represents themselves.
As mentioned by above fellas, try to ignore them as much as possible and block them at the earliest opportunity. Don't allow them any space for attacks or mockery. These individuals are ignorant and don't rise to the level where we can say they are decent human beings.

Many thanks to everyone for your words. Yes, sometimes this can be very frustrating because these people are not punished as they should be, and that is often because they can hide behind a computer screen. However, I have followed all of your recommendations. And most of all, it is frustrating that despite all this, those who justified these acts, saying that it is just humor or attacking me for reporting them, are still in the room. Many thanks again.

Hi, I'm sorry to read about what happened to you. I can only agree with emerald and marina on this matter. And I hope that you have a better experience in the future.

I am against your messages. because you mentioned the indigenous people, calling them nacis. and you should know that first, the indigenous people were never nacis. The indigenous people were people, who lived in tribes, and had different cultures. So, you can't call an indigenous person naci, when this person didn't do anything to you. and if then, we mess with racism, you are doing it too, since you are cataloging a certain group of people. of something they are not, because in my country there were indigenous people, and there are still isolated groups of them, with different cultures. That's why I know what I'm telling you, so. It doesn't seem fair to me that you are complaining because you suffered racism on our side of the platform, (Spanish) to seek to be understood on this side (English) without them knowing that the indigenous and nacis, were different groups of people and that you are the same , you are causing racism by saying those things. also adding that you are complaining about racism, and making jokes about the Syrians and the minesweeper. This is a message that I translated from Spanish to English. and it will probably be almost incomprehensible, but I want to tell you that this guy doesn't tell the whole story. since he still makes jokes that include racism. there, your messaje, in english, and in spanish. Creador_de_mundos: Cuál es el juego favorito de los sirios? el buscaminas.: 03.01.2024 15:56 Creator_of_worlds: What is the favorite game of Syrians? the minesweeper.: 03.01.2024 15:56 If more evidence is needed, I can paste the link to the forum where those messages are posted. That forum is for telling jokes, but it doesn't take away from the fact that he is also making jokes, which include racism. In fact, the first message that person said to him is also a racist joke. And, I also want to clarify that I have no problems with that person, I am simply another user. Seeing everything, it doesn't seem fair to me that he doesn't tell the whole story.

Hello, just a little, well, perhaps even a huge comment.
You should just be a little bit more considerate in regards to properly picking the words when posting the messages of such sort.
It feels a little bit off at the very least, when you come into the topic to address such a type of issue in good faith and give verbal support to the person that happens to be the victim of discriminatory treatment, and just in this very message you lable the country of the people that this individual belongs to as "so-called", thus explicitly hinting at what attitude to the issue in question and everything surrounding it you truely have.
Such a type of rhetoric that you have essentially been primed to by the stance you are taking does not appear to give the victim any sense of support what so ever.
In fact this is simply hypocritic of you to seem to address the issue at the beginning and then contradict yourself in the later part of the message in a way that your message stops giving the supportive vibes that were intended.
Thank you for your attention, Mister, best of luck on the journey to being unbiased when voluntarily engaging in this kind of discourse...

I am not supporting him, for that very reason. because he's not telling the whole story. He is playing the victim, when even. He makes the same jokes that he says he suffers from now. So, am I a hypocrite? or the people who support him. without knowing the whole story. Have a very good day, greetings from Argentina. the country where the indigenous people, whom this person mentions, once lived. :)

I meant to address @MuhammadHajjar's message. To the topic-starter, I hope this is your one and only encounter with such a type of despicable behavior on this platform, as has been mentioned by several people before, one individual never represents the entire community...

Ho, then I apologize. Sorry, I use a translator, and I thought he was meant for me. sorry

The so-called comment was written by MuhammadHajjar not you yo-se-si. I was wondering if I was the only person who caught that. However, it is not nearly a big deal as that to say so-called and also renounce racism, is it? I could hate racism and also have my opinion on Isreal, geography has nothing to do with discrimination.

How big of a deal this is depends on the circumstance this remark is used in. In this very case it was just a little bit unnecessary to formulate it this way. And it is just weirdly hilarious to observe how one can't resist formulating statements in a way that is dictated by the stance they are taking...

Really? Wow you're incredibly intolerant, just 2 extra letters made you rage like that? I have a right to express my opinion. I'm not racist, nor was I in my previous post. It's just that I don't support so-called Israel and its crimes. You didn't like the fact that I just added so-called, disregarding the rest of my supportive comment? Well, too bad for you, go cry in the corner.
Edit: ps: This tiny extra word didn't bother even the person involved in the problem, nor any of the rest of the participants in this topic. So why did it bother you in the first place, did op hire you as a lawyer for him or what?

Let's see, I posted the joke about the minesweeper in a joke thread, which also makes jokes about We, the Colombians, the French and the Jews. But, the man I accuse wrote to me privately, with a clear intention to offend, saying that all Jews should have been exterminated by the Nazis. I don't know where the joke is there? Especially considering the history of the Holocaust? You may or may not agree with Israel, it is finally a state, but you cannot ask for the holocaust of an entire people. These types of people like @yo-no-se-si, and their friends in the Hispanic room who tolerate or justify these acts of anti-Semitism must be erased from this room.

I do not tolerate it nor justify it. For me that is also something unacceptable. I just want you to tell the whole story. and don't be crying here. when you also make jokes like that. In fact, I don't even know those people.

Hello,
first of all, I would like to say that I'm really sorry you experienced this issue, and I hope that you never encounter it again.

However, I would like to mention a few, in my opinion, important points, both for you, but also for anybody dealing with such problems. Some have already been mentioned by Marina.

1. In my opinion, you should always try to report the player by using the send a history report function in the functions menu (f9).
I say this for two reasons:
- The staff will have complete and full access to your history, and will know exactly what happened. Please keep in mind that I am not at all implying that what you said is fake, or that it didn't happen. I am just saying that by doing it in public, user 2 has the right to go ahead and say, no, this conversation never happened. By sending your full history via the developed function, this is not possible.
- It avoids exactly this kind of problem that you have experienced right now, someone will come in and attempt to extract some joke you made in the past and use it against you. When the report is handled in private, this doesn't happen.
Note that when I say report privately, I don't mean at all that you shouldn't ask a question about a rule, if something is unclear. Feel free to do that at any time, but without flagging specific users in public.

2. You say that banning the accounts is not enough, and that additional measures should be taken. What measures in particular would you propose? What kind of policy could be more strict than banning someone for such behaviour? This is just a gaming platform, and there is only so far you can go.
3. Please keep in mind that you have tools at your disposal to block anybody you do not want to talk with. As it can be seen that this is a private discussion, blocking the user in question is also a good option. Note that this doesn't at all mean that this kind of racism will go unpunished just because the user can be blocked. This is simply a way for you to avoid continuing the discussion and being more offended.
4. As said earlier, the issue happened on the Spanish Playroom, so that's where this report should go. Again, without me trying to imply that you faked your translation, or anything like that, but otherwise, it would be extremely easy for somebody to switch languages whenever they are unhappy with a certain decision and attempt to report a player. The staff certainly needs to be able to communicate in the target language.

From my point of view, having this discussion could certainly be useful and there is nothing wrong with it, but at the same time, no action against a specific user is possible just from a forum discussion.

To conclude, again, do keep in mind these are only my opinions as a user, and have no bearing on what the staff does/doesn't decide. I certainly hope you will have a much better experience, and wish you lots of enjoyable games on the Playroom!

hi Nicola, the user I reported was banned, because the moderators of the Hispanic room found sufficient evidence to do so, since I reported the entire history. The problem is with this type of users like @yo no se si, who try to justify these acts of genocide against a people in public places like the forum or the free tables.

free tables? hey friend As you can see, your arguments are over, since where I am always is at the entrance, or at a table with my gf. and as I said above. I do not justify it, nor tolerate it. But, you have done it too. and whatever space it has been, you did it. So tell me, how would a person from Syria feel if they read what you said? He would feel like you, and would make the same scandal as you, with the difference that by not making these jokes, he has every right to do so. On the other hand, you don't have it. because also, you say these kinds of things. then you do them and you have to endure them being done.

Hello everyone, as an Israeli teenager from the Holy Land I feel the need to respond to everything that is said here. First, anti-Semitism and racism are not something that started recently in this community of the blind. Since I discovered the community, I'm a must here and in other games racism and antisemitism. I want to respond to those who said "just ignore". It seems easy for you to ignore people who tell you that you have no right to live in your country (your home). You think it's easy to hear someone say that it's a shame that Hitler didn't finish murdering your people (my grandfather was a holocaust survivor, his brother was murdered). its not easy. And it is very easy to deteriorate to this level of return in a bad way. It's a shame that in a lovely community like ours (800 people?) there are people who dirty it with racism. In conclusion. I suggest that to overcome this phenomenon, block the user's IP address

@yo no se si, It's just that, my friend, in the end, you try to justify the unjustifiable. Did it seem right to you that Samuel Paty was beheaded simply for showing a cartoon of Muhammad? Did you perhaps consider that this type of humor with cartoons is also racism? As I mentioned, I try to make jokes about the situation here in Colombia, how pretentious we French can be at times, or jokes about our own Jewish community. But one thing is doing it in the thread of jokes, which is supposed to be, even though there are dark and tasteless jokes, a thread for jokes. Another thing is privately messaging members of the room and insulting them for what they believe, think, or for being from a specific community.
It's clear that you, markk, and r althor, along with the others in the Spanish room, are trying to downplay this matter by approaching it from a personal standpoint. However, the broader issue at hand, as Nicola suggests, is how we address this topic within the room. Should we consider limiting any form of humor to prevent similar consequences? While it may sound absurd, it's in this absurdity that you seem to operate the most – or perhaps, in justifying something that, both before and after, should unequivocally be rejected.

Hello,
@davidhs1200 of course this is not easy, and I perfectly understand how emotional it can be. Certainly it's not the same since I am not a jew, but my country went through wars as well, and has an ongoing complicated conflict.
What is important is that these people are just strangers. They don't know you, and they don't know me. They have no idea what is your background, and how much suffering something can cause.
Do not give them any attention, because they do not deserve it. Talk with the people who respect who you are and appreciate you for what you are. Do not let their words affect you, because as I said, they don't know anything about your life. After they are ignored by enough people and get blocked/banned, maybe they will change, or not.

Without going into the background of the system, of course IP banning is something that already exists and would be used, but needless to say Internet is a lot more complex and solving the problem is far from being so simple.

@Creador_de_mundos The problem is that you have mentioned people such as markk and r althor. They obviously participate on the Spanish forum, but we do not know anything here about their background on the English side. They have been accused of defending anti-semitism, but we here are unable to judge anything, because we do not have the complete picture. I have no idea if they even know that they're being called out on the English side, nor if they can speak English well enough to provide their side of the story.
It seems a little unfair, and also won't really offer us any benefit. I obviously understand the struggles you faced when receiving those private messages, but other than that, this seems to go to some kind of a private argument that the Spanish forum is aware of, but that none of us can really help with. I suggest directing your concerns to the Spanish staff, and letting them deal with the situation.

That's the problem, friend Nicola. The Spanish staff can't do much, because this user likes to make those types of jokes, but not have them made to him. I have nothing personal against this user. In fact, I don't even know him, but he has also written racist messages. because yes, it is a thread where jokes are told. But there is a line between humor and racism, a line that he also overcomes, making that joke about the Syrians and the minesweeper, for example. I don't know Mark and R-Althor very well, we're not even friends. I am only a user on the Spanish side. that he doesn't like this kind of thing. I do not justify or promote racism. I just don't like it when someone does something like this, but when they do it to him. whatever is currently happening here.

Feel like this discussion will blow up with hate and divide users if it’s not closed. My final thing I want to add, and it goes with what Nikola said, is that of course its not easy but as someone who is part of a community that is often labelled as terrorists, ignoring is the best option. It’s not easy but you should read again what I said above. That these ppl have emotional problems. And to some extent I aggree that if you don’t like something you shouldn’t do it too. Avoid putting your self in situations that provoke strong emotional reflections such as mocking one’s religion, culture etc. but either way the point is not to blame you for it because clearly someone took the wrong end of your intention, but to more consider that one gets angry, they act on rage. When one acts on rage they don’t know what they’re doing. Of course it’s not acceptable but when you put it in your head that they don’t know what they’re saying/doing, it makes it very easy to move on from it.

I call for this topic to be ended because the author of the post has been told several times by various users that nothing can be done and now its becoming a sort of but he or she did that/justice hasn’t been served when in fact this is not a court house. We’re only here to have fun. This will only get draining, especially now names are being called. Now imagine ppl want to go to the spanish section and get back at those who appear to support racism based on the way it has been phrased here. It can be pretty nasty … i hope this makes sense.
Please focus on what you can do for your own mental health and forget about these bullies.
Take care.

Hello,

It's time to close this discussion. All relevant and useful information has already been given by Mmarina and Nikola.

Let's quickly wrap it up: when you are victime of racism, sexism, or anything against the rules, you should:

1. Block the offender, so that you can no longer receive direct messages from him/her
2. Alert helpers privately, by using the means at your disposal to do so
3. Don't tell helpers what they should or shouldn't do exactly following your signaling, it's part of their job to take the action they judge to be the most appropriate.
4. Try to take it at laugh rather than seriously, even if it may be very hard. Nothing can really reach you when you take it at laugh.

As already said, always alert privately rather than publicly.

• Burning anyone publicly is going to stir up the fire without bringing anything useful
• by staying private, nobody can accuse you of fake and/or yourself stiring up the fire
• We can't ban or take other action solly based on what is said in the forum, as it's too easy to pretend or contradict anything

Now that the correct behavior to take is made clear, there's nothing useful to be added anymore to this discussion.

The playroom is just a gaming platform. It isn't the right place to debate on who is right between Israel and Palestine.
Sadly, both have their own reasons, good or bad, more or less understandable, more or less excusable, to stay on their positions, and we can't do anything to change them anyway.
as stated in the rules, discussions about politics and religion are forbidden.

Stay safe and keep moving.