Paradox Interactive, the studio behind history-driven strategy staples like Hearts of Iron, Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, and Victoria, has updated its official Discord server rules to ban profile pictures featuring historical figures born after January 1st, 1800.

The whole mess kicked off when a server moderator banned a user for using a real photo of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, as their avatar. Atatürk is revered as the father of modern Turkey, with his portrait plastered across every single Turkish lira banknote. In Turkey, insulting Atatürk is literally a crime, making him a figure of immense reverence.

The moderator in question branded Atatürk a 'controversial figure' and slapped the user with a ban. When the user appealed, the moderator pointed to Rule 2 of the server guidelines regarding the avoidance of controversial topics, claiming Atatürk's political legacy made him a violation of the rules.

Naturally, this explanation went down like a lead balloon with Turkish users. Players swarmed Steam to bury Paradox games in a massive wave of Review Bombing, while the moderator faced doxxing and harassment. As the fire grew, Paradox stepped in to restrict access for the loudest protestors and scrub the offending threads.

Yet, with the dumpster fire still burning brightly, Hearts of Iron 4 game director László Páefer took to Discord to issue an official apology for the moderation team's blunders. Páefer admitted that Paradox never intended to take any stance or pass judgment on historical figures, conceding that the enforcement of their profile rules lacked both consistency and fairness. Páefer added that the contentious guidelines were never meant to invite arbitrary gatekeeping over specific historical figures, and shouldered the blame for the failure to nip the issue in the bud.

To strip away the ambiguity of subjective moderator calls, Paradox has decided to enforce a blanket ban on real-life profile photos of political and military figures born after 1800. That said, official in-game portraits for Hearts of Iron 4 will remain fair game, provided they are not Nazi Germany's top brass. The new policy will roll out following a seven-day grace period.

On top of that, Páefer warned that the studio will take a hardline stance against the abuse and threats hurled at developers and moderators alike, confirming that the bans handed out to the worst offenders are here to stay.