PlayStation Bans Common Mexican Nickname, Reverses Ban After Criticism

In the modern age of information, finding a unique and memorable username is no easy task. It became even harder for a PlayStation 4 user named Enrique when his common hometown nickname led to a ban from the service.

PlayStation Network (PSN), the online service by Sony for their latest gaming console, moderates usernames for potentially upsetting or offensive content. This is why Mexican-born Enrique was banned for the username "Kike_0615." To him and his homeland, Kike is a shortening of his name, like Mike to Micheal. Unfortunately, to many Americans, it's a derogatory slang term used against those of the Jewish faith.

Detailed in a Reddit post about the ban, Enrique explains that he had the account for years, accruing a heavy number of games on it before the ban occurred. He was given no warning or explanation, and only through extensive phone calls with Sony support did he discover it was due to an offensive name. The support team was unwilling to restore his account, nor change his name. Enrique was fully willing to have a new username.

After the Reddit post gained traction and others were noticing Sony's lack of cooperation, the company backtracked and reversed the ban. The support team manager at Sony would later call Enrique, admitting to the mistake and informing him of the complete reversal.

Despite the complications, Enrique feels no ill will toward the company.

We have to keep in mind that the PSN is a global thing and we have to at least take into small consideration how other people feel.

Sony has been under a critical consumer eye as of late, particularly due to their unwillingness to implement cross-platform gameplay. This situation no doubt doesn't help. It makes you wonder, had that Reddit thread not gained popularity, would they have ever returned to reverse the ban?