Google has pulled a game from its Brazilian online shop that allowed players to trade and abuse enslaved persons, after outrage from South American figures who say the US internet giant and the game’s developer should be held accountable.
The ‘Slavery Simulator’ game puts the user in the role of a slave owner who can buy and sell black individuals and subject them to different sorts of torture. It was removed from Google’s online store in Brazil on Wednesday, a little more than a month after its release, but it is still playable for the over 1,000 users who downloaded it in the previous four weeks, according to the Brazilian newspaper Globo.
According to one Google Play review, the game is “excellent to pass the time but lacking more torture options.”
The game has sparked outrage in Brazil. “Blatant racism,” tweeted Renata Souza, a black activist and politician in Rio de Janeiro, on Wednesday. “In the game’s illustration, a white man is surrounded by black men.” It’s ridiculously violent. Google and the creator must answer for this heinous and racist crime.”
Brazil’s Ministry of Racial Equality said it has contacted the game’s maker, Magnus Games, as well as Google, to establish measures to limit racist content on the internet. According to the Guardian, the people responsible for the game will face legal consequences.
“The racial equality ministry reiterates its irreversible commitment to eliminating racial inequalities and promoting policies that curb the dissemination of racist content online, in football stadiums, and in society as a whole,” the governmental body said this week, referring to the abuse directed at Brazilian footballer Vinicius Junior during a recent game in Spain.
The South American country’s legislature is presently debating plans that would mandate social media companies to implement safeguards to limit illicit or dangerous content transmitted through their platforms. This comes after Brazilian digital businesses, including the Google headquarters, were chastised for failing to effectively regulate racist or criminal content.
Brazil is estimated to have transported over 4 million slaves from Africa before enacting the so-called ‘Golden Law’ in 1888, which banned all kinds of slavery. It was the Americas’ final country to do so.
