PLEASE REPOST WIDELY!

Barry's second novel, Jennifer Government has received very good reviews and the movie rights have just been bought with a movie deal sure to follow. The book is a sardonic and witty dark comedy about corporations run amuck through unrestricted capitalism. Many have said the book contains a strong anti-globalist stance, although Barry denies that his views are in line with anti-globalists. He is a well-received and successful author perhaps set to follow in the footsteps of successful Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk.

Which makes this second part too important to ignore.

Barry created a game site where players create their own nations and play politics with each other, called  http://www.nationstates.net. No wars, just build your nation and debate with each other on forums or through an online United Nations.

After visiting the site, it became obvious that the only editorial policy was about each nation's flag, which cannot contain "a swastika or nudity," although other common Nazi and White Power symbols are perfectly fine. Forums are even less moderated and frequent threads are being posted such as, "How Jews oppress the mentally ill."

It seems as though Neo-Nazis have flocked to the site to create nations of their own. Nations, in gameplay, are part of regions that function as small networks. Each region has its own forum, as well as other forums hosted by a linked site, free of charge. Nazis soon began creating their own regions, including links to external sites and racist bulletin boards such as Stormfront.

When asked about how they were going to respond to hate groups using the site for message boards, a moderator proceeded to lecture about game rules and terms of service. In other words, they blew it off.

One moderator even went so far as to make an in-game reference to "prominent Jewish bankers" opposing a Nazi rally in the daily gameplay announcements.

Searching the NationStates region list, I came across a number of mini-sites within the game controlled by white power activists and being used to promote hate. They include (just Search in the Region drop-box on the main page):

4th Reich SS,
Nazi Deutschland Axis,
The URAP,
NAZI EUROPE,
The NSIA,
Aryanised Europe,
Vichy France,
The United Axis,
Leftists here (a game region taken over by nazis where they threaten to hang "race traitors"),
Idaho,
Supreme Nazi Europe,
Axis Powers,
Norselandic Warriors Front,
the Prussian Reich,
the Fascist Powers,
White Aryan Resistance,
New Stormfront,
...and perhaps more I have simply not discovered yet, with nearly two-hundred user accounts with names such as The Holy Empire of Aryanville, The Nazi Empire of One Reich 1488, etc., including links to these bulletin boards:
 http://s9.invisionfree.com/The_NSIA/index.php?
 http://s12.invisionfree.com/The_Fascist_Powers
 http://thearyanarmy.proboards61.com/index.cgi

Why is this important? The site is accessed by thousands of players. It is prime recruitment ground for White Power groups, and by allowing them free space for their message boards, Nationstates.net is practically handing them fresh members. As a prominent author whose second novel is soon to become a movie, Max Barry should know better. Let him know what's up with the website.

Freedom of speech doesn't mean tolerating hate or letting hate groups use his website's services.

Please contact Max Barry and ask him to take a stand against hate groups on the internet by revising the site's editorial policy to stop them from organizing on it. Each recruit they get equals another racist attack.

No more hate in online games!


Nationstates.org and Nationstates.net are registered to Max Barry through Go Daddy Software, Inc. and are hosted by DNS1.JOLT.CO.UK and DNS2.JOLT.CO.UK.

Please. It's up to all of us to put racists where they belong.