A man named Muhammad Zakir Khan wanted to register for the MOBA Paragon. However, that was not possible because the name appears on a list maintained by U.S. authorities.
Imagine wanting to register for the beta of a new cool game and reading that your account creation was blocked. Because your account creation violates the “Speciality Designated Nationals list,” maintained by a U.S. department. You are therefore not allowed to play the new game because someone thinks you are a terrorist, a drug trafficker, or someone working on weapons of mass destruction. Either way: You are considered a threat to the internal or external security of the U.S. or at least to the economy.
Well, that would certainly make you gulp, right?
That is what happened to Muhammad Zakir Khan, who lives in the U.S. The “special list” he landed on is actually intended to make life difficult for internationally operating terrorists. He could not understand why he was on this list at all. At first, he thought it was a hack, but later he realized: I am being treated as a potential terrorist because of my name. He felt dehumanized and discriminated against. It hurt.
Khan then tweeted: I am not a terrorist with the hashtag Islamophobia. The implied question is: What is going on with you?
@EpicGames My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist. #Islamophobia pic.twitter.com/wKVAWZxFZx
— Zakir Khan (@Muzzakh) January 10, 2016
At Paragon, they apologized for the issue. That was definitely not intentional. The filters were too broad, related to U.S. trade regulations, and only filtered by name.
These filters are actually only about the developer side, who gets access to the Unreal Engine 4. They had taken over the code and are now working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
Khan was impressed by the way Paragon handled his problem, but as Kotaku reports, he still has a lingering discomfort. He would now like to know to what extent the gaming industry collaborates with U.S. authorities and what data is transmitted. Khan demands more transparency.
In further tweets, Khan addresses the issue of living as an “American Muslim” in the current atmosphere. He calls for more sensitivity and spaces where American Muslims can talk about the pain of discrimination.
Incidents of discrimination lead to trauma even if you do not understand them as an outsider. That pain is real and hard to cope with.
— Zakir Khan (@Muzzakh) January 12, 2016
