[Update 1/28/2016: Following the publication of this article, the Gamespot moderators have corrected their stance on the issue]

[Original article:] In a recent interview with Street Fighter V producer Yoshinori Ono, he revealed to Gamespot that the reason they had to remove Rainbow Mika’s butt-slap and change the camera angles on Cammy’s intro was to avoid offending anyone. Comments reiterated from a few months ago. Well, gamers weren’t happy about it and proceeded to blame Social Justice Warriors for it… well, they at least tried to do so.

In the interview, Gamespot mentions that Capcom was criticized for “gratuitously objectifying female characters” and Ono responded by mentioning once again that the removal of the camera angles were to avoid those who would be offended by it, stating…

“You may have seen sometime ago, for R. Mika’s Critical Art cutscene, the camera angle was changed a bit, and we made some other changes with how the camera angles worked with the characters. That was one of our answers to some of this feedback,”

 

“We want everyone to be able to enjoy playing this game. We don’t want anything offensive in there; we want everyone to be able to enjoy the game as much as possible. So we’re working to be able to provide a friendly environment for everyone.”

Immediately in the comment section there were those completely miffed at the idea that people offended by a camera angle would be so offended that they wouldn’t buy the game. While a few of the commenters joked, some of them took it a step further and squarely placed the blame on third-wave feminism and the current ideological crop pushing media narratives from mainstream websites under the banner of being a “Social Justice Warrior”.

The comments were swiftly deleted by moderator Byshop. He states…

“Everyone, please be aware that discussion of this article is fine, but rants against “SJWs” or anti-feminist comments or the vilification of any other real or imagined social group whom you blame for something you don’t like will be deleted.

 

“Also note that if you reply to a comment that gets removed, the reply will get removed as well. You will only get notifications via email if your comment was deemed inappropriate.”

User MasterKushh noted that his comment was deleted and called out Byshop while also attacking the act of self-censorship from Capcom’s behalf, writing…

“Comment got deleted but i will say again. I will cancel my pre order now just to show devs they are catering to wrong audience”

Byshop responded by letting him know that attributing blame to feminists and Social Justice Warriors for censorship or any other reason is not allowed in the Gamespot comment section, writing…

“Expressing like or dislike is fine, but leave out the anti feminist/SJW rant aspects.”

Essentially you’re allowed to dislike censorship but you’re not allowed to dislike those utilizing censure to enact censorship.

This is identical to what happened on the Anime News Network forums, and the Phantasy Star Online 2 forums, where users were prohibited from blaming Social Justice Warriors for the current and rampant censorship plaguing gaming at the moment.

In the case of Anime News Network, they claimed that Social Justice Warriors don’t exist and that by attacking them or even typing “Social Justice Warriors” or “SJWs” is a pejorative and offensive, therefore you are prohibited from using the phrase “Social Justice Warriors” or the acronym “SJW” on Anime News Network because… they don’t exist.

In the case of Phantasy Star Online 2’s forums, users are not allowed to attribute blame to Social Justice Warriors because they are a marginalized group, therefore attacking them would be the equivalent of discrimination.

In response to gamers becoming increasingly angry at “culture critics” who have created a new moral panic in Western culture surrounding video games and sexism, media outlets are restricting the demarcations on free speech to prevent certain kinds of thoughts from being expressed.

While the common expression is that private companies like Gamespot, Anime News Network and PSO2 Forums have a right to censor speech as they see fit, what we’re seeing here is the censoring of specific ideas labeled as “wrongthink”, a term popularized by George Orwell’s 1984, a book about an extreme totalitarian society.

Some gamers may agree with the removal of things like the butt-slap and the suggestive camera angles, while some gamers may not. What’s troubling, however, is that expressing an opinion about the harms of censorship and those who cause it is a line of thought that’s now becoming censored across various discussion platforms.

[Update: 1/28/2016] Gamespot moderator Stevo_the_gamer has commented that it’s still possible to criticize but to keep it classy, writing…

“Whatever you read was off base. You are allowed to criticize such. As always, keep it classy and all will be fine.”

[Update 2: 1/28/2016] Gamespot moderator EJ902 [backup] has further clarified the moderation team’s position on criticizing SJWs and third-wave feminism, writing in a lengthy post…

“I think that Byshop did not explain himself very clearly and has given the wrong impression. First and foremost, criticising the social justice crowd or feminists is not against the rules here; it never has been and I sure as hell hope it never will be. If any moderator told you that was the case, then it’s certainly not something that was discussed with the whole moderator team.

 

“if anyone reading this feels they have been moderated unfairly, take it to the Ask the Mods forum. Be patient and polite, and feel free to ask for the opinion of another moderator or the community manager if you’re not happy. And don’t assume nefarious intent when a mistake or misunderstanding is the far more likely explanation; we’re only human and make misjudgements like everyone else.”