T1 LoL facing backlash over unmoderated fan hate speech on Discord

Esports org T1 is facing fresh criticism after moderators of its Discord server were prevented from taking down hate speech. Some of the comments were aimed at LCK caster Nick ‘LS’ DeCesare.

T1 is facing fresh allegations of permitting homophobia on its discord server. Leaked screenshots of conversations suggest the server moderators were actively prevented from taking down abusive comments by fans of the organization.

Server moderator phandere condemned the discord posts, accusing the organization of treating the mods “like absolute trash” and describing their response as “god-awful.” Phandere also said, “racist and homophobic slurs were everywhere,” while another moderator, Sean, slammed the situation as “backwards and out of order.”

Stella, a supposed representative of T1, said the org “will be coming up with an official announcement soon.”

T1 facing criticism over permitting homophobia and racism on Discord

Fnatic mid laner Tim ‘Nemesis’ Lipovsek was one of the first pro players to comment, as he said: “[I am] sad to witness something like this.” Top laner Bwipo also condemned the org’s actions, but deleted his tweet after it became clear members of T1 were being harassed.

This isn’t the first piece of controversial behaviour displayed by T1 fans recently. In the wake of the LS rumors, some fans ordered a billboard truck to tour downtown Seoul and park outside the team’s HQ, displaying protest messages aimed at the org.

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LS temporarily deleted his Twitter account in early November after abuse from T1 fans over his rumored signing as a coach, but he has since returned.

T1 has since announced ex-DAMWON Gaming coaches Daeny and Zefa, meaning LS’ rumored arrival is very unlikely to come to fruition. 

Per u/prottek, LS’ self-titled ‘helper’ Macaiyla posted on his discord saying that LS was “not okay” and that “with all of the ‘stuff’ going around, everything has just heightened his emotions.” With the T1 server discussions being released, she said fans could “put two and two together.”

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An official apology from T1 has been released on Twitter for the homophobic and racist comments made on their Discord channel.

The apology has received overwhelming backlash and critique from the community. The majority of the criticism is aimed at the organization’s refusal to directly condemn the comments made toward LS: “why are they talking around LS instead of addressing him… at least mention the hate you condemn was against him”.

On top of this, there is a lot of frustration regarding the involvement of the board and how the blame has been shifted onto the Discord mods.: “Blaming the mods that were forced to sit idle by executives/board for what went wrong is beyond absurd.”