Nexus Mods bans Spider-Man Remastered modder for erasing pride flag

Mod database Nexus Mods has warned users that anybody deliberately peddling incendiary content will be reprimanded and potentially even banned.

The company was speaking out after a user created a sock puppet account to upload a mod for Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered that removed and replaced the title's pride flags with a USA flag texture.

Nexus said the mod was "clearly" uploaded to troll users and cause offence, and as such the author has been banned and the mod removed. The company added that while it isn't the "authority on what users can and cannot mod," it as a company stands for inclusivity and diversity and will "take action" against anybody that appears to be taking aim at those values.

"To address the banning, which is what a lot of people want to focus on, the mod was uploaded by a sock puppet account (i.e. a newly made account by someone who already has an account on the site) and uploaded under the name 'Mike Hawk.' It was very clearly done deliberately to be a troll mod," wrote the company in a statement.

"The fact the user needed to make a sock puppet like a coward to upload the mod showed their intent to troll and that they knew it would not be allowed. Had they not been a coward and had they used their main account instead, we would have simply removed the mod and told them that we did not want to host it, only banning them if they reuploaded it again after being fairly warned. The creation of the sock puppet removed any doubt and made it a very easy decision for us. Both the sock puppet account and the user's main account have been banned."

Nexus has pledged to do a better job of moderating its website moving forward, and reiterated that as a private business it has the right to choose what content it wants to host on its platform.

The company encouraged users to report any content they feel might be in violation of its policies, but said that it will ultimately have the final say on what it feels is appropriate -- noting this goes for all users "no matter where they stand; left, right, up or down."

"We don't want to and won't argue this with you. We've now explained our stance and we won't be providing a platform for you to distort our position in order to feed an irrational and paranoid narrative. You can do that elsewhere, where we won't care enough to read it," added the company.

"If this policy upsets you, if we've broken some moral code of conduct as a business that you can't accept, then please, delete your account (bottom option) and move on, as we will."