Wagner James Au / New World Notes

IMPORTANT NOTE: I wrote this post prior to Thursday’s news, and is not directly related to that or any other specific company or situation. Please read it only as important background information to help explain why, generally speaking, companies often don’t address internal controversies in public.

I’ve seen various controversies within the virtual world/gaming user community light up across social media over the years, some of them involving serious (if unconfirmed) allegations involving the companies themselves. 

When this happens, it sometimes leads angry user community members to ask: “Why isn’t the company announcing anything about these allegations publicly?”

Speaking very generally — and this reflects my own experience working for various virtual world/online gaming companies over the years, when situations like this happen — there’s often a very good reason for the radio silence. 

Here’s some considerations that often come up in cases like this:

When the allegations are serious enough, for starters, the company’s legal team tends to take over the entire show, ordering a company-wide STFU. 

Often this is a very smart (if frustrating) move: The company is juggling staff obligations, workers rights claims, their reputation with the industry and in the media, and so on. 

Then there’s the allegations themselves. Saying anything about them publicly may prejudice any eventual legal claims that crop up. 

This move also tends to be self-reinforcing. If the company lawyers are saying STFU, staffers become very leery of trying to overrule this order. Whoever even attempts to do so may find themselves on the chopping block. So the silence becomes even more silent (so to speak).  

But what happens if serious allegations are somehow confirmed?

Radio silence may still rule even then. If they involve management or employees, the implicated people may just be asked to leave quietly. The goal here would be to avoid a wrongful termination lawsuit, or bad press, or both. 

Also: Publicly firing an employee/manager can expose the company to defamation/slander lawsuits.

None of this silence is very reassuring to the user community, and may even provoke more angst. Often the company staff is very aware of that, and frustrated that they can’t say anything publicly.

At most, the company may put out a highly anodyne public statement like, “We’re aware of some very serious allegations, and are investigating them.” And leave it at that.

And while it may be frustrating, I recommend not assuming the company isn’t taking those allegations seriously. If it’s any consolation, they’re often the heated subject of closed door, board-level discussions — discussions that few beyond those doors will ever know about.  

It’s happened before, and it will happen again. It’s surely happening right now within thousands of companies and organizations around the world, from a small plumbing company in Peru to the White House in Washington.

Comments note: As this post relates only to general company policy, please refrain from discussing any current specific situation or personnel.