The Surprising Platform Joe Biden Might Be Banned From
While we've all grown accustomed to the current president being regularly fact-checked by Twitter, it seems the president elect might be in hot water with another online platform: Animal Crossing: New Horizons (via CNN). According to the New York Post, Nintendo's seasonal update has changed its policy to restrict political campaigning on the game, in addition to prohibiting vulgar or offensive content or using the platform to promote sales, coupons, sweepstakes, giveaways, or other marketing tactics. This means the island and signs that the Biden Harris campaign set up in September to encourage players to get out and vote could be in danger (via New York Post).
However, Biden's island is still up on the game and able to be visited by players, despite the new rule stating: "Please also refrain from bringing politics into the game" (via The Independent). But what would be the consequences for failing to comply with these new policies?
What Biden's political Animal Crossing island could mean
It seems that failing to comply with Animal Crossing's new set of rules could result in a stern talking to. According to The Verge, if you break these new rules, Nintendo "may ask you to stop such activity or usage of [their] contents, and take appropriate actions, including prohibiting your future business usage of the game," which is a polite way of saying Biden and his team could be issued a warning or even banned from the game.
While the continued existence of Biden's Animal Crossing island might seem out of character for the normally rule-following president-elect, in all likelihood, it is merely an oversight on behalf of the campaign. After all, the election is already over (meaning the island and lawn signs have served their purpose) and Biden and his team are likely just too busy preparing for his upcoming presidential term to be concerned with whether or not he is banned from Animal Crossing. If he is eventually banned from the game, it would certainly be a comparatively tame first scandal for president-elect.