Warning: This article contains screenshots of posts and statements which contain obscene and vulgar language. Those statements are presented here, without edits, in order to accurately record these events.
Over the last few days, the team behind the open source Godot game engine has enacted a mass banning -- dubbed a "cleansing" -- of users, developers, and financial supporters who were perceived to have the "wrong" political views.
This morning, the Godot Foundation has -- after tremendous pressure -- issued an official statement on their X account.
Two images containing text. The first of which reads as follows:
"On Friday, we made a tweet that unexpectedly led to a wave of harassment directed at our staff and community. We unequivocally condemn this abuse.
The volume of negative engagement overwhelmed our moderation efforts.
While attempting to protect the Godot community we mistakenly blocked individuals who were not participating in the harassment. The Godot Foundation Board takes full responsibility for these moderation actions.
If you believe you were blocked in error and have not violated our Code of Conduct, please contact us with the form linked below. We are committed to swiftly rectifying any mistakes.
We firmly stand by our mission to keep our community spaces free from hate, discrimination, and other toxic behaviors.
- The Godot Foundation Board"
The statement "we made a tweet that unexpectedly led to a wave of harassment directed at our staff" is, based on all available evidence, simply not true. The majority of bannings, enacted by Godot, appear to have been directed towards people who were makings statements which could not be described as "harassing staff".
Many were variations on "why not focus on software?" or "why are people being banned?"
Likewise, the statement "The volume of negative engagement overwhelmed our moderation efforts" also appears to be false.
During the height of the mass "Cleansing", the employee responsible for "Community & Communications" for Godot openly mocked and insulted those being banned -- and had enough time and energy to "start a folder" of the replies to Godot's actions.
Got enough time to "start a folder" of people you ban -- and mock them online? You probably are not "overwhelmed".
Two other points worth noting regarding this statement from the Godot Foundation:
- It appears as though no banned accounts -- on any platform -- have been un-banned.
- It also appears as though no action, of any kind, has been taken regarding the Godot team members responsible for the mass bannings.
Both actions would be incredibly simple to take -- and would help to ease the escalating tension between the Godot Foundation and the Godot users (and contributors). Yet, notably, these actions have been specifically not taken.
That is a choice by Godot.
An additional, shorter statement was made concerning the Godot Discord moderator who called those being banned "the filth of humanity" who can "[censored] off to oblivion".
"We strongly condemn the harmful language used by Xananax, moderator of an unofficial Godot-related Discord server.
We want to clarify that Xananax is not hired by nor a spokesperson for the Godot Foundation.
As an organization, we have our own official Discord server, moderated together with the new volunteers vetted by our team."
Two points are worth noting with this statement.
The first is that Godot appears to be distancing themselves from this moderator by stating that this was an "unofficial Godot-related Discord server".
However, this Discord server was listed as the official Discord server -- according to the Godot Foundation website (as of just three months ago). Likewise, "Xananax" has been often referred to as the "Main Moderator" for multiple years.
Thus proving that "Xananax" was, indeed, an official moderator of the official Discord server for Godot. At least until... now.
The second point is that the Godot Foundation is "condemn[ing] the harmful language" of their moderator. But what language, specifically? Is Godot condemning the statement that their users are "the filth of humanity" who can "[censored] off to oblivion"? We assume so... but they don't actually specify.
Well, luckily, another official moderator of the new official Godot Discord server has made an announcement to clarify:
I'll call your attention to the bullet point, second from the end:
"Additionally, posts made by community member Xan from back in 2016 have surfaced, that the Foundation had to distance itself from"
Wait. 2016? The Godot Foundation was not condemning the new "filth of humanity" statements?
They were condemning... statements made... 8 years ago? Seriously?
Well, ok. What, pray tell, were those 8 year old statements that Godot finally decided to condemn? Apparently... this is them.
That's right. This "Xananax" made those statements on the (then) official Godot Discord server -- which the Godot team was totally fine with (even making Xananax the "main" moderator).
But, now that they've surfaced again, Godot has distanced themselves from those statements. But not, it should be repeated, the "filth of humanity" statements. Those statements, apparently, Godot agrees with.
Send Us Your Email to Get Unblocked
In a truly peculiar move, instead of simply unblocking / unbanning everyone who was "cleansed" over the last few days... the Godot Foundation has posted a Google Form for people to fill out to request a "Block Appeal" specifically for "X/Twitter".
To fill out this form, Godot is requiring users send them the email address associated with your personal Google / GMail account.
And, bizarrely, this only is for requesting an unblock on X/Twitter. The mass blocks and bans on Discord and GitHub (source control) are, apparently, not available for appeal.
Those who have been "cleansed" must plead their case and give a specific reason why Godot, in their infinite mercy, should unban them.
So Many Questions
Naturally, The Lunduke Journal had some questions.
Specifically:
- Has any action been taken against any individuals who engaged in the mass banning over the last few days? Are those individuals still part of the Godot Team?
- Does the Godot Foundation have a count of how many accounts have been banned and/or blocked (across GitHub, X, and Discord) during these actions?
- How many of the blocked / banned accounts have been returned to normal?
In less than 60 seconds, my questions were deleted by the Godot moderators.
As I sat there, in the Godot Discord topic -- specifically for asking questions about this issue -- I was amazed as I saw comment after comment, from a wide range of users, get deleted. Right before my eyes.
More messages were deleted than were allowed to remain.
Journalists, users, developers... none were allowed to ask critical questions. None allowed to express opinions contrary to the official statement from Godot.
What happens now is anyone's guess. But Godot sure seems hell-bent on destroying themselves in a hurry.
