Infinity Nikki Subreddit: Moderator Gets Fired For Homophobic Comments

There is an uproar in the Infinity Nikki subreddit: A mod has been observed showing homophobic behavior, and was fired after protests from users arose.

Kissing Is NSFW?

The free-to-play action-adventure game Infinity Nikki has a photo feature that lets users pose, customize the design and share their pictures with other users. Since the game randomizes how many people a picture is shown to, players also like to share their favorite images in the Infinity Nikki subreddit, where more people can see them.

This includes visually stunning shots, funny captions and poses...and also romantic pics. However, it was observed by users that one moderator of the subreddit would ask for pictures of characters kissing or hugging to be marked as "NSFW" (not safe for work) content - but only for pictures depicting two women and not for mixed-gender pictures.

Uproar Among Users

Since the Infinity Nikki subreddit has a very liberal community, the mod only asking for lesbian pictures to be marked as NSFW has sparked protests. After the first post about this observation, the subreddit was flooded with support for LGBTQ+ relationships.

Here's what users had to say:

Women kissing is not NSFW. Gay people are not inappropriate. - u/vultureskins

If you check that mods comment history they only appear to be coming for the WLW [= women loving women] posts. Kinda hard to argue that it doesn't come across as homophobic at that point. This mod needs to be removed immediately. - u/magicalpancakes

Hey other mods, serious question can we vote to remove a mod?! I seriously dont feel safe having this sub moderated by a homophobe! This is supposed to be a fun and wholesome community and yet all the hate is coming from a person with total control. Really makes me want to just create a new subreddit if you allow this person to continue moderating. - u/CyanSedusa

Other Moderators' Responses

While the moderator accused of homophobia, u/SuperCreamPuffs, hasn't responded to the criticism, other mods have taken action. One user posted a conversation they had with a mod who stated that u/SuperCreamPuffs indeed only seemed to be targeting LGBTQ+ posts, that they disagreed with the "NSFW" tag demands and needed some time to look into the issue.

Later, a moderator posted the following statement:

I just woke up from sleep and it seems there’s an issue with NSFW photos? I’ve never marked Nikki/Nikki/male npc kissing photos as NSFW, the only posts that should get marked as NSFW are suggestive ones. Kissing is something that happens in every type of media including ones for children so it would not be NSFW. The mod has been removed and the NSFW rule has been updated to state the obvious. - u/anestefi

Not only has u/SuperCreamPuffs been removed as a mod, but their comments that requested the 18+ tags have by now also been deleted by other moderators.

What do you think about this situation? Did the moderators act fast enough? Should they have done more thorough background checks or interviews before hiring new mods in the first place?

[ce1]