EA banned a Ukrainian player from Battlefield for the Azov emblem
The company equated the chevron with symbolism related to genocide, mass murder, glorification of criminals, or humiliation of victims.
The company equated the chevron with symbolism related to genocide, mass murder, glorification of criminals, or humiliation of victims.
Electronic Arts has issued a one-week ban (168 hours) to a Ukrainian Battlefield player's account for using the Azov Special Forces Brigade chevron. The incident was reported by a user on a Ukrainian subreddit, providing screenshots of the message from technical support.
In its official decision, EA justified the ban by saying that the emblem allegedly contains “inappropriate references to violence and tragic events.” In particular, the company equated the chevron with symbolism related to genocide, mass murder, glorification of criminals, or humiliation of victims.
The situation has caused outrage in the Ukrainian gaming community, as Electronic Arts' moderation ignores the use of openly terrorist symbols by Russian players. Users note that in multiplayer Battlefield matches, players with the emblems of the Wagner PMC, ZOV symbols, as well as the flags of the Russian Federation and the USSR are freely running around, and the company does not impose any sanctions on them.
In the comments to the discussion, another user shared her own experience: she received a permanent ban for using the old Azov logo, which she had been playing with since 2022. According to her, the platform's rules are extremely vague and do not explain under which country's laws decisions on blocking are made. She also suggested that moderation and technical support for EA games in the Eastern European region may still be handled by employees from the Russian Federation.
This is not the first time EA has banned Ukrainian players. Previously, a Ukrainian gamer said that he received a permanent ban from his entire Electronic Arts account for saying "i dont like russians" in the chat of the online shooter Apex Legends.
As a reminder, Electronic Arts also restricted access to the online shooter Battlefield 6 in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions.
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