The month of August has seen the banning of many Fortnite accounts. Though the situation seems to be wildering on the surface, it is a serious and complex matter, as the banning of so many accounts pertains to legal issues.
The current issue stems from the fact that several websites have failed to register for new licensing rules in Indonesia. Meta, Amazon, PayPal, Yahoo, Google, Epic Games, and many other companies were also affected by the ban.
Why Fortnite accounts are getting banned left and right
With the implementation of the new rules, companies were asked to provide data on their users by July 29, which was a little over a week ago. If they failed to do so, then those companies would become unlawful in the country.
This ultimately means that the bans are not coming from Epic Games. Rather, it is a result of the new laws that the company did not follow. Thus, right now, players from Indonesia cannot play the game.
Indonesia has been identified as one of the biggest gaming markets in the world, and the country with the largest collective playerbase in Southeast Asia.
These bans are not permanent, though. Once Epic Games adheres to the new laws of the country, the game will be unbanned. It seems highly likely that all Indonesian players will eventually get their Fortnite accounts back.
Other reasons why players might get their Fortnite accounts banned
Epic Games bans accounts in Fortnite for a variety of reasons. Oftentimes, players get caught while cheating, which results in a swift ban. Streamers, for example, have often been caught on stream and have been banned right in front of their audience. Other times, players get banned for being offensive in-game or have been reported too many times.
According to Epic Games, one of the most common ways to get an account banned is by having an offensive name, as they stated:
“Your display name must not contain any of the following: Vulgarity, hate speech, offensive or derogatory language of any kind, direct references to any Epic Games employee, product, service or character.”
Fortnite’s developers tried to lay out a list of what might be constituted as offensive. They continued:
“Diversity in race, ethnicity, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, national origin, and other groups.”
Bans are often handed out for various lengths and are usually temporary, but in the case of harsher crimes, the developers have not been shy of handing out permanent bans.
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Epic Games reportedly looks at each case thoroughly before determining whether the player deserves a temporary or permanent ban. This makes it hard to know exactly what might constitute a ban.
Thus, it is a good idea to avoid cheating, do anything even remotely offensive, or impersonate a celebrity. If one feels that there is a chance their behavior might get them banned, it is best to avoid it.
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