The epidemic of discrimination -- and mass bannings -- of political undesirables (read: anyone other than Leftist Extremists) continues to plague the world of Open Source Software.
The NixOS Linux project recently enacted their, self-proclaimed, "purge" of people who they labeled "Nazis" (but who were, in fact, simply not-Leftists). The openSUSE Linux distribution mass banned (and labeld as "rotten flesh") anyone who failed to enthusiastically wave the LGBT flag. Python, elementary, GNOME, and more have all been committing mass-bannings of those who they view as having "politically wrong" ideals.
And now Godot -- the extremely popular, Open Source, video game development engine -- has succumbed to this disease.
Let The "Cleansing" Begin
Over the past two days, a huge number of Godot users, developers, and even financial supporters have been banned for suggesting that Godot -- a piece of software -- should be focused on software instead of politics.
This was in response to a post on the official Godot X account stating, "Apparently game engines are woke now? Well then, we won't complain. Show us your Wokot games below".
From that point forward the bannings appeared to occur quickly, and in large numbers (accompanied by scores of hidden replies and comments).
These bannings have occured across every platform where Godot operates: Including X, Discord, and even GitHub.
Yes. Developers are being banned from the Godot source code repository on GitHub for the crime of either having the "wrong political ideas" or for suggesting that "Godot should focus on software". Even if those statements were made on personal accounts on different online platforms.
The mass bannings have been issued for offenses even as simple as, literally, quoting the creator of Godot.
In a particularly peculiar move, a "Titanium Level" financial supporter of Godot was blocked during this mass banning campaign.
One Godot fan -- and vocal supporter of the bannings -- positively referred to these actions as a "cleansing", giving "utter respect to Godot for cleansing the community".
This mass "Cleansing" -- across all official Godot platforms -- appears to be spearheaded by an individual named "Nat" -- who describes herself as working in "Community and Communications" with Godot. She also describes herself as "Obnoxiously Queer".
After the mass "Cleansing" was started, the creator of Godot replied to questions regarding the bannings by stating, "If you behave properly you should not be banned no matter what your political bias is. Nobody has been instructed to ban people for who they follow or what they post in public."
Following that up by stating, "Sure if you go and register in the forums and in your bio you write that your gender is attack helicopter, or if you make there any harassment or discrimination, that will be an instant ban."
As the bannings continued, fast and furious, another Godot moderator (who goes by the name of "xananax") posted the following to the Godot Discord server -- in response to people questioning the reasons and motives behind the mass bans.
Warning: The language used in these quotes is extraordinarily vulgar. The Lunduke Journal is reproducing screenshots of them, as they were originally posted, for the sake of accuracy.
"You have no right of speech here, because I consider your speech to be toxic vomit. If you think inviting queer people to share their games is 'politics', you're a toxic piece of [censored], an evil human, and I want you to feel disrespected. And to [censored] off, as fast as you can".
Refering to those being banned by Godot, the Godot moderator stated, "They're the filth of humanity, and banning them is a kindness to everyone."
The Godot moderator continued by referencing the Godot tweet (which read: "Apparently game engines are woke now? Well then, we won't complain."), by saing: "For me, the only problem of this tweet is that it doesn't happen every day, so more of those imbeciles can be banned. They should be doing these tweets every 30mn, and anyone who has a problem with them can [censored] off to oblivion, and then [censored] off some more. And anyone having any slight issue with it here can [censored] off too."
The Godot Community, Communication, and Moderation officials are certainly being quite clear about their actions and intentions.
The Lunduke Journal reached out to the creator of Godot as well as the Godot Foundation for comment.
What follows is the entire response from the Godot Foundation.
Hi Bryan,
We intend to make an official statement on Monday.
We do have and enforce a Code of Conduct (https://godotengine.org/code-of-conduct/) on our community channels. Appeals for bans can be made to the code of conduct team email address: conduct@godotengine.org.
Best,
Clay John, Board Member
Interestingly, Godot's team certainly seems to be in clear violation of their own Code of Conduct, which states the following:
- Aggressive or offensive behavior is not acceptable.
- You will be excluded from participating in the community if you insult, demean, harass, intentionally make others uncomfortable by any means, or participate in any other hateful conduct, either publicly or privately.
Otherwise, Godot declined to answer any questions (or provide any indication of what the contents of any future statement might be). When, or if, there are additional comments from Godot, The Lunduke Journal will publish them.
Worth noting: As of the time of publication, all known bans remained in place. No ban has been lifted... even more than 24 hours after the creator of Godot responded to notification of the ban. Which would suggest, in the absense of any other information, that Godot management suports these "Cleansings".
