The new update 1.19.1 of Minecraft has sparked heated discussions in the community. Some players consider it necessary, while others equate it with censorship, similar to the famous book 1984 by George Orwell.
What is this update about? 1.19.1 is a minor update of the Java Edition of Minecraft, released online on July 27. In addition to smaller bug fixes, it primarily introduced the new feature of chat reporting into the game.
It is now possible to report players who send messages containing prohibited content, such as child abuse, hate speech, sexual harassment, etc. Players can mark multiple messages for reporting, which will serve as evidence.
After verification, reported players can be banned from online mode, either temporarily or permanently.
While there was already a reporting system in Minecraft, it was managed by the respective server owners. The new system is now centralized. This caused heated discussions within the community.
“Absurd, intrusive and unnecessary”
This is what the opponents of the update say: The new feature has not been well received by all players. The hashtag #saveminecraft was created to urge Mojang to reverse the update.
This group of players argues that the new reporting system provides fertile ground for abuse. It is easy to manipulate chat logs or take them out of context, ensuring that players lose access to online mode.
On the official Minecraft subreddit, the thread about the update has 0 upvotes, but over 1,400 comments, many of which are negative:
- “Ah yes, 1.19.1, also known as ‘don’t update'” – Sandrosian
- “We had nearly 11 years without problems with self-moderation. Why is this being added?” – therealduckie
- “When I create a server, my rules apply there. I don’t want Mojang and Microsoft telling me what I can and cannot do. […]” – luffy1479
- “I’m just waiting for some griefer or hacker to create a mod to report people en masse […]” – MakeLord95
The update has been renamed by this part of the community to “1.19.84” – a reference to the book 1984 by George Orwell, which deals with a dystopian totalitarian future (via Wikipedia). Some are calling for the system to be intentionally abused to prompt Mojang to remove it again. Others are threatening the developer with a boycott of their popular game.
Community Manager MojangMeesh commented on reddit that the update will not be reversed. His post received nearly 2,000 downvotes and angry responses.
“Have you even read 1984?”
This is what the supporters say: Another part of the community supports the change and is astonished by the comparisons with the book about a totalitarian regime and mass surveillance. The comparisons are completely exaggerated and those who make them apparently haven’t read 1984 at all.
The supporters also point out that the self-moderation of servers is not the optimal solution to all problems, as the opponents of the update suggest.
An ever-growing problem in Minecraft and other online games is child abuse. Games like Minecraft and Roblox, which primarily target children, constantly have to fight against pedophiles who misuse these games for cyber-grooming. MeinMMO author Andreas Bertits has personal experience with this.
Stuart Duncan, the owner of the large Minecraft server for autistic children, has had personal experiences with this and knows of 4 cases where adults attempted to gain children’s trust.
According to Duncan, server-owned moderation is ineffective in such cases, as the owners of the said servers may not take reports seriously or may even be perpetrators themselves. It is therefore not in their interest to handle such reports.
What do you think of the update? Do you find a centralized reporting system sensible and right, or is it problematic? Let us know in the comments.
How you can protect yourself from criminal behavior online can be found in one of our past talks:
Toxic and criminal behavior in online games: What can be done?
