The Fallout 76 Free States Militia is a roleplaying group of friends who like to play the game together. Unfortunately, it appears that Facebook has mistakenly banned them for the second time — and now they're leaving the platform for good.
Fallout 76 is an online-only game set within the Fallout universe and using the same engine as Fallout 4. It has many of the things players would expect from such a game including PVE, PVP, and opportunities for players to group up and adventure together. Naturally, some players will form dedicated clans or gaming groups, and a smaller portion will aim for a roleplaying experience.
The Free States Militia is one such group. According to its leader, the page is "100% Fallout related" with the vast majority of content focusing on lore. The page has since been taken down, leading the group to believe that it was either the Facebook algorithm or a sitewide moderator mistakenly interpreting them as a real militia.
'Adult Games Have Adult Themes,' Fallout 76 Free States Militia Leader Says
As Polygon reports, the Fallout 76 Free States Militia had been previously banned from Facebook back in late 2020. The page was subsequently restored and the leadership took steps to avoid any problems with the Facebook algorithm, but that apparently wasn't sufficient to prevent the page from being banned a second time.
“Adult games have adult themes," the gaming group's leader told Polygon. "There will be bleed over from reality into fiction as a result. Banning words such as ‘gun,’ ‘acid,’ or ‘militia’ only serves to make people feel as though they are helping. But in reality, they are only making things worse."
This is far from the first time that Facebook has made a mistake with moderating content on its platform —and it certainly isn't the first time it's confused a video game for a real-world equivalent, either. Back in 2018, ads for the video game Democracy 3 were banned from Facebook. It happened again with Democracy 4 in late 2020. Most recently, Positech Games' Cliff "Cliffski" Harris stated on Twitter that ads for Democracy 4 are still banned on the platform.
As for the Fallout 76 Free States Militia, the group is currently in the process of setting up a Discord server. It won't quite be the same, though — while Discord is great for communication, it isn't yet the best platform for reaching out to a wider audience and attracting new members.
What do you think of Facebook banning the Fallout 76 Free States Militia? Do you think Facebook should do a better job with niche situations like the Free States Militia and the Democracy games? Let us know in the comments below!