EA says it failed in response to Sims influencer’s alleged sexual harassment
In the social media age, companies have to be able to quickly vet and evaluate any "influencers" that they partner with to promote their brand online. Electronic Arts now admits its process for doing just that broke down when the company was told of credible allegations of sexual harassment by a member of its Sims Game Changer community partnership program.
A report by Kotaku details allegations of sexual harassment made by Sims community members against a YouTube creator and Game Changer partner with the online handle "Dylan Simz." The report outlines multiple instances where Simz allegedly shared unwelcome sexual fantasies with teenage boys online and at least one instance where he allegedly exposed himself on camera to a fellow player.
The report suggests that Simz's status as an EA Game Changer-which granted him early access to in-game content and direct access to EA events and members of the game's development team-helped him establish and maintain the illicit contact with these alleged victims. "I know that he's friends with a lot of those [bigger] Game Changers, and I had some friends who were friends with him, so I was like, 'Oh am I going to lose friends over this too?'" one fellow Game Changer told Kotaku. "He did mention to me 'Oh, I'm a Game Changer, if you didn't know,' multiple times, so I think he knew that, too."
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