Activision Under Fire For Hiring George W. Bush-Era Torture Advocate
Activision is catching flack for hiring a George W. Bush-era torture apologist who will oversee laws and regulations in other countries.
Activision Blizzard has appointed a controversial figure from former US President George W. Bush's administration to help with overseeing regulations and laws for its games in other countries. This would include things like understanding laws on loot boxes, microtransactions, and, in some instances, overall content, with the lattermost point having led to some countries banning Call of Duty previously.
Given the widespread appeal of Activision Blizzard's titles, ranging from Candy Crush to Call of Duty, it's likely difficult to to keep track of all the ins and outs of every single country it sells games in. Activision likely wants to ensure that it can sell its games in as many places as possible, especially as Call of Duty continues to be a cash cow for the company. Laws and regulations regularly change regionally, so it only makes sense to hire someone to oversee such a matter. However, not all candidates are created equally.
Activision has appointed Frances F. Townsend to ensure its games comply with laws and regulations in other countries, an issue Call of Duty has sometimes encountered. “Oftentimes, these laws and regulations are not in harmony and so the real challenge is making sure that the folks who work in each individual area understand what the responsibilities and obligations are there,” she said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. She went on to note how even though Activision has moved away from loot boxes, the company's other monetization practices could get unfairly caught up in regulation talks.
Townsend served as a former George W. Bush-era counterterrorism appointee after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This was an incredibly controversial time for counterterrorism operations and tactics like torture, and Townsend was a notable figure at the head of the discussion. She previously defended the Bush administration's use of waterboarding, forced nudity, sleep deprivation, and more forms of torture, but she holds that she wasn't directly apart of the discussions that allowed the CIA to use these methods.
There is some question as to how much this may impact internal policies, such as Activision recently stating it couldn't make the effort of having a diverse line-up of candidates for job interviews due to it being difficult. Would someone like Townsend just continue to reinforce this? After all, her job is to effectively communicate between other countries, and it's going to be hard to do that if the company isn't even willing to interview a diverse pool of candidates that doesn't include accused war criminals.
Source: The Wall Street Journal