Fortnite Declared "Blasphemous" To Islam In Indonesia, Faces Potential Ban

Jason Winter
By Jason Winter, News Editor
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People, especially older people, have had a lot of issues with Fortnite, whether it's about children spending too much money in it or just the nature of the game itself. ("So you're a banana and you shoot Thanos?") We've documented a few of these troubles (here and here), but Indonesia might be banning it for reasons unrelated to its all-encompassing popularity or addictive nature.

The South China Morning Post is reporting that the country's Tourism and Creative Economy Minister, Sandiaga Uno, has branded the game as "blasphemous" due to a viral video that shows a Fortnite player wielding a scythe and walking around an area that resembles the Great Mosque of Mecca, the Masjid al-Haram, as well as the Kaaba, which Muslims around the world face as they kneel for their daily prayers.

The video in question has been in circulation since 2019.

Sandiaga said that the Kaaba-like structure "must be destroyed by the players in order to earn new weapons and level up" and instructed his staff to research the game to discover whether it should be banned from the country. According to Fortnite's Middle Eastern representatives, the Kaaba in the game was made by a fan in creative mode and doesn't exist in the game's official version.

We've known for a long time that games that allow users to create their own content run the risk of producing something offensive -- "TTP" or "time to penis" was a phrase that was coined to estimate how long after such tools were offered that it would take for someone to produce something resembling genitalia. Basic obscenities and vulgarities are the sorts of things that game developers usually stamp out quickly, but maybe they need to expand their scope to potentially blasphemous religious iconography, especially if something like this has been out in the wild for two years.

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About the Author

Jason Winter
Jason Winter, News Editor
Jason Winter is a veteran gaming journalist, he brings a wide range of experience to MMOBomb, including two years with Beckett Media where he served as the editor of the leading gaming magazine Massive Online Gamer. He has also written professionally for several gaming websites.

Discussion (3)

rickshaw@hotmail.com 1 year ago
I can not help religions who set rules as its their own inflictions they choose to abide by.
Simple answer: turn the computer off.
My story...
Many years ago, books were written to keep followers and people locked into a circle of rules keeping them suppressed by these readings, it worked..it was called a religion. .so the birth of religion began by one writer and was later re written to make the story sound greater.
Facts: there are none. But..today we can still find dinosaurs bones.
So...If your gaming...just ignore this as religion is just a book readers followers club anyway.
TURN THE OFF SWITCH TO OFF!!
its simple.

View 2 replies

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