EA Has Responded To Player Concerns Over Inappropriate ‘Jeffrey Epstein’ Gallery Uploads In The Sims 4.
CONTENT WARNING: This article contains depictions that may be upsetting to readers. There are depictions of Anti-Black racism and Antisemitism, as well as depictions of the Holocaust.
The Gallery feature in The Sims 4 has been under scrutiny in the past for its failings in content moderation, notably because the same kinds of harmful uploads keep resurfacing. EA have responded to a recently highlighted upload depicting Jeffrey Epstein. For a platform that handles thousands of creations every day, you’d expect the guardrails to be stronger. Instead, players continue to find households and comments that slip through filters entirely, notably racist caricatures, war criminals, pedophiles, and other creations that players would rightfully deem offensive.
On reddit user u/Odysseusford made a post about highlighting a household named “NPC Children Townies”, featuring 7 child Sims in bathrobes and towels, and a depiction of the financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was first convicted in 2008 for soliciting a minor, before other women came forward, alleging to have been trafficked for sex by Epstein and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell.
Considering the contents of this now-removed gallery upload are very sensitive, we’ve decided not to showcase it here. An image preview of what was taken down can be seen on Reddit with appropriate NSFW content filter applied.
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EA’s Response To Jeffrey Epstein Sims 4 Gallery Uploads
After being highlighted on Reddit and subsequently reported on by gaming news site Kotaku, EA responded directly to Kotaku, labelling the upload “wholly unacceptable” alongside a statement:
If we detect content that violates our User Agreement and Positive Play Charter, we may take a number of enforcement actions, including removing the content and the player’s access to certain or all EA Services. We encourage players to report this kind of content in The Sims Gallery by clicking Flag This on the item.
The Gallery’s Ongoing Problem With Racist and Extremist Content
The Gallery’s problem with racist and hateful content isn’t something you have to dig for. I’ve found it myself with nothing more than a few simple searches. Hitler. Concentration camps. Black Sims are made to look like slaves. Multiple Epstein uploads. None of it is hidden behind obscure tags or coded language. It’s just there, sitting in the same space players use every day to share builds and households.
That’s what makes it feel like a systemic issue rather than a handful of bad actors slipping through. If I can find this stuff without trying, then the filters should be catching it long before it reaches anyone else. Instead, it’s the opposite. The Gallery lets it through, it stays up, and the only reason it disappears is that someone notices and posts about it. By then, it’s already been downloaded, favourited, or at the very least seen by people who shouldn’t have to deal with it.
Trigger warning: You can find the image preview here in the new tab.
From basic searches, I was able to uncover multiple instances of depictions of both Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein was a movie producer, later convicted of rape and sexual misconduct. Also uncovered is a household named “Jews & Co” featuring Jeffrey Epstein alongside Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, political commentator Ben Shapiro, and singer Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs. While the word ‘Jews’ is rightfully not censored, the word can be used by bad actors to upload harmful content to the platform.
Trigger warning: You can find the image preview here in the new tab.
Also discovered with a simple search is a build uploaded in 2020, recreating the Gatehouse of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp, the camp used by the Nazis to murder over 1 million Jews, alongside Poles, Romani, and Soviet POWs. While harmful recreations are easier to come by when searching for Sims, recreations of concentration camps and slave plantations can also be found if you dig deep enough.
How To Report Gallery Content
If you stumble upon any harmful or offensive content, make sure to do your part and use the Gallery’s built-in report feature. Here’s how to report content:
Click the flag icon next to ‘Favourite’ and ‘Save to Library’.
Choose the reason the upload breaks the Gallery rules.
What are your thoughts on the handling of offensive and harmful content on the gallery? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned to Sims Community for all the latest on The Sims 4.
Hi, I'm Callum. Im 23, from London, and I've been playing The Sims ever since my cousin introduced me to it. Over the last couple of years I have been creating world mods for The Sims 4, as well as some smaller gameplay tweak mods.
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Creating sims like that is already diabolical but building a whole WW2 camp is just…I can’t even describe. Humanity honestly is lost.
Jacquie
1 month ago
I sure wish there was a list of banned words! My upload stories are constantly rejected due to banned words I can’t find but this garbage is okayed to be published? Wow!
Kym
1 month ago
You know people piss me off and although I’m glad they took this down going from past experiences with certain other things on The Sims if people don’t like it they don’t need to buy the Sims we never ever had one single problem with this type of crap ever until recently but some cry babies! Simple answer if you don’t like it don’t buy it. Papa you don’t even realize how much the Sims has changed since they first came out All because of whiners like some of you all and it’s disgusting! Don’t come hating on me for telling the truth either I’ll just block your butts
Amoni
1 month ago
As fun as it is to be an edgy teenager, I wish these people would remember that the Gallery is a space open to real kids. I remember browsing the Gallery with my kid and someone uploaded a sim with a graphic sex fantasy in the description. I had to ban Gallery use when I’m not around because I don’t want to risk her seeing inappropriate stuff like that.
The Sims has always been branded as Teen – Adult game. With Adult supervision encouraged. I mean heck, the game it’s self has Alcohol and Sex as core mechanics. So in all honesty you can’t be shocked when Adult things are posted online when the themes are part of the gameplay and always has been.
There’s a difference between PG-13 WooHoo & nectar, and graphic sex talk & Jeffery Epstein. The game itself is very tame. The Gallery, which is official and accessible through the game, should be the same.
I don’t care if people make Epstein sims in their own game and share it on Twitter or 4Chan or whatever. That’s their prerogative, and those sites aren’t designed to be safe spaces for children. The Gallery is.
Dami
30 days ago
This was a perfect opportunity to shame EA over the broken gallery filters and I feel like you didn’t make nearly a big enough deal about it. We don’t need casual polite articles about pedos, we need scathing reports about their gross mismanagement of user created assets and how this is the result. Shouldn’t be surprised though; y’all rarely step up like that.
Denise Curtis
29 days ago
Exclusivity… don’t agree but no injury, no foul. Just needs to be age- oriented
Lilly
29 days ago
What isn’t mentioned in the list is also IDF gameplay. People are creating IDF soldiers in the gallery and then leaving hateful comments on arab looking sims or sims with arab names. Islamophobia is real and often clumped in the “other” category and not included in discussions like this. Why?
Janet
29 days ago
I’ve seen a lot of anti-black and anti-Muslim content in the gallery.
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Creating sims like that is already diabolical but building a whole WW2 camp is just…I can’t even describe. Humanity honestly is lost.
I sure wish there was a list of banned words! My upload stories are constantly rejected due to banned words I can’t find but this garbage is okayed to be published? Wow!
You know people piss me off and although I’m glad they took this down going from past experiences with certain other things on The Sims if people don’t like it they don’t need to buy the Sims we never ever had one single problem with this type of crap ever until recently but some cry babies! Simple answer if you don’t like it don’t buy it. Papa you don’t even realize how much the Sims has changed since they first came out All because of whiners like some of you all and it’s disgusting! Don’t come hating on me for telling the truth either I’ll just block your butts
As fun as it is to be an edgy teenager, I wish these people would remember that the Gallery is a space open to real kids. I remember browsing the Gallery with my kid and someone uploaded a sim with a graphic sex fantasy in the description. I had to ban Gallery use when I’m not around because I don’t want to risk her seeing inappropriate stuff like that.
The Sims has always been branded as Teen – Adult game. With Adult supervision encouraged. I mean heck, the game it’s self has Alcohol and Sex as core mechanics. So in all honesty you can’t be shocked when Adult things are posted online when the themes are part of the gameplay and always has been.
There’s a difference between PG-13 WooHoo & nectar, and graphic sex talk & Jeffery Epstein. The game itself is very tame. The Gallery, which is official and accessible through the game, should be the same.
I don’t care if people make Epstein sims in their own game and share it on Twitter or 4Chan or whatever. That’s their prerogative, and those sites aren’t designed to be safe spaces for children. The Gallery is.
This was a perfect opportunity to shame EA over the broken gallery filters and I feel like you didn’t make nearly a big enough deal about it. We don’t need casual polite articles about pedos, we need scathing reports about their gross mismanagement of user created assets and how this is the result. Shouldn’t be surprised though; y’all rarely step up like that.
Exclusivity… don’t agree but no injury, no foul. Just needs to be age- oriented
What isn’t mentioned in the list is also IDF gameplay. People are creating IDF soldiers in the gallery and then leaving hateful comments on arab looking sims or sims with arab names. Islamophobia is real and often clumped in the “other” category and not included in discussions like this. Why?
I’ve seen a lot of anti-black and anti-Muslim content in the gallery.