Did you know some corporations have flimsy, non-standard policies about what types of homophobia they’ll tolerate? It’s true! And we don’t mean in the workplace with underpaid staffers, but rather the types of language they’ll allow customers of their services to use. In this (very brief, non-scientific) exploration into language censorship, we’re going to look at three giant, publicly traded companie, whose policies on hate speech are contradictory, misguided, or simply in need of a computer algorithm update.
MICROSOFT (Market Cap: $210.11 billion)
The software giant’s immensely popular gaming console Xbox lets players compete over the Internet with the subscription Xbox Live service. Connect some audio headsets to some blood thirst, and teens are ready for an afternoon of murder.
But as many players have learned, some words just aren’t fit for the service. Like … “gay.”
User “xxxGayBoyxxx” was told by Microsoft that the Xbox “community” thought his handle was offensive; was it the use of the word “gay” or those triple-Xs? Either way, it didn’t stop others players from virtually bashing him.
A player who claimed his real name was “Richard Gaywood” was told he also needed to change him name.
Except Microsoft’s standards policy isn’t that clear cut. One user had her account suspended because she identified as a lesbian.
That said, Xbox Live doesn’t ban the words “gay” or “lesbian” from being typed out in the service.
CONTINENTAL AIRLINES (Market Cap: $1.47 billion)
Continental is America’s fourth largest carrier and employs more than 43,000 people. We’ve enjoyed many a delayed flight in their reasonable Presidents Club lounges. The Human Rights Campaign says Continental is one of the best places to work; Delta did not make that same list. The airline even signed up as a corporate sponsor for Cleveland’s bid for the 2014 Gay Games.
So how come the airline has (had?) a bizarre filter in place for users searching for gay travel on its website?
Continental employs one of those automated service bots called Ask Alice, which responds to customer queries by checking its database against any questions you might have. (Here’s the link, though it will force a resize of your browser window.) Except when Queerty reader Jeff asked Alice about gay travel options, he was told to keep it clean. Here’s what Jeff says he inputted (and received back) last week:
You Asked: GLBT travel?
Alex: Hey, let’s keep this clean. Is there something about Continental that I can help you with?
As Jeff notes: “This is the same response that you get for such postings as: ‘fuck you’ [and] ‘you suck.'”
That’s not exactly the customer service we were after! When we received Jeff’s email last week, we tried our own questions, even making the sentence more clear: “Do you have any gay travel options?” We received the same response: “Hey, let’s keep this clean.”
Unfortunately, we didn’t grab screenshots at the time — but it appears Continental has updated their system. Here are the replies we received today:
And when we asked “Any travel tips for fags?,” we were told:
(And yes, Alice replaced the word “fag.”)
Admirable that Continental removed “gay” and “lesbian” from its curse words dictionary. But, uh, we’re still not entirely satisfied. Shouldn’t a giant airline be able to recommend some gay travel hotspots?
Apple’s iTunes is now the largest music retailer in the United States. Selling more than just tunes, Apple’s digital store also traffics in movies, television shows, and applications and games for your iPhone. That’s a lot of control over digital media for one company, which makes its policies on gay content that much more hefty.
When it comes to Apple’s American iTunes store, there’s no ban on gay specific content. A quick search turns up plenty of gay stuff to buy:
When we searched for “fag,” however, the results including the term were censored with asterisks:
But bizarrely, the policy is reversed in Sweden. Towleroad points out things there are the other way around: “gay” content is censored,” while “fag” tunes are kosher.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Vada
I am glad to see that “fag” is treated as a curse word on these websites (other issues/words aside).
Whup-ass Master
Enough with the word hysteria. If I want to ask Continental about the best fag-fisting travel options in Salt Lake City, I’d appreciate a non-judgemental response, thank you. Besides, I just like the image of a Continental employee doing research on fag-fisting, arranged by price and convenience.
Yuki
Xbox Live supposedly bans any mention of any sexual orientations whatsoever in gamertags and profiles; I’ve seen users like “SatansGreasyKok” and “Ladiesman”, though, so… that’s a bit debatable.
Paul
I was on a Continental flight last summer, and the in-flight entertainment was an episode of How I Met Your Mother–the word “lesbian” in the sentence “People will think this is a lesbian bar” was bleeped out.