The ‘Antifa’ game couldn’t have asked for more effective advertising in the run up to Christmas. A call for a boycott of Fnac sits on Twitter this Monday after the department store decided to withdraw from its shelves the board game published by Libertalia, launched in collaboration with the collective La Horde, under pressure from the far right and of a police union. 20 minutes returns to the origin of the controversy.
What is the “Antifa” game?
“Racist remarks, homophobic demonstrations, fascist violence, that’s enough: against the far right, it’s up to you! sums up the notice for the game “Antifa” on the publisher’s website. On the cover, activists from all walks of life: a rainbow-colored T-shirt from the LGBT+ community, a character with hacker attributes, another with a gouged out eye or even what looks like a punk musician.
A first edition of the game had already been put on sale last year, then it was reissued for 2022 in a “simplified” version for “faster games (from ninety minutes in the first edition, we went about thirty minutes for a game), more fluid and more intuitive”, explains the publisher. The latter describes “Antifa” as “a simulation and management game in which you bring a local antifascist group to life, in which each player plays an activist, with specific skills. »
Why did Fnac remove it from its shelves?
Images, a game title and a slogan that did not please certain political figures of the far right or even the Union of Commissioners of the National Police (SCPN) who experienced this relay from Fnac as an outrage. “This “game” is on sale at Fnac. A comment to thus highlight the antifas, which break, set fire to and attack in the demonstrations? “Writes the union’s Twitter account, calling out the chain of stores specializing in the distribution of cultural and electronic products.
“To honor antifa, these hateful groups who only know violence to attack our democracy and what we hold dearest in our country… Absolutely scandalous!” “, was indignant the deputy National Rally (RN) Victor Catteau. An employee of the RN group at the National Assembly, Nicolas Cresson, for his part recalled that he had already been indignant at this highlighting of the board game last year. “Not the impression of favoring violence. Shame on you ! », writes another user.
Faced with these invectives from the right of the right, Fnac gave in. “We understand that the marketing of this “game” may have offended some of our audiences. We are doing what is necessary so that it will no longer be available in the next few hours, ”published the communication from the store late Sunday afternoon. What arouse the indignation of new Internet users who now call for a boycott with the hashtag ” #BoycottFnac “.
Why do some people point to Fnac’s “double standards”?
Many thus recall what term the expression “antifa” is the abbreviation of: antifascist, “who is opposed to fascism”, according to the definition of Larousse. A user who describes himself as a historian comments in turn, addressing the syndicate of commissioners: “I am surprised, as a historian, that you equate anti-fascism with the violence of various groups in the demonstrations. Antifascism is the foundation of the Republic that you represent, and it has many nuances. »
Others criticize Fnac for giving in to the “far right” and point to a “double standard” in the face of this withdrawal from the board game while anti-Semitic and racist books continue to be put on sale. It is thus quite easy to fall on the online sales site of the chain of stores on The Great Replacementby Renaud Camus, who notably inspired the author of the far-right attack in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019. Worse, you can also easily find on the site, with the possibility of picking it up in store, the book mein kampf by Adolf Hitler, translated into French.
Will the game suffer from this withdrawal of Fnac?
This controversy brought to light the very existence of the “Antifa” board game. A good example of the Streisand effect, which means that when you want to hide information (here, the sale of a game) you trigger the opposite result (you advertise the game). Many Internet users have thus thanked the union of commissioners and the elected RNs for having put forward “Antifa”, promising to buy it: “I am going to buy this game for Christmas”, “Thank you for the pub, I was totally passed by. Oh! in the basket”, “I bought it for my wife this weekend at an independent bookstore, really looking forward to the 25th in the morning. »
If it is no longer on sale at Fnac, neither in stores nor on the site, “Antifa” remains available on the Libertaria editions site, on Librairie.com or in independent bookstores and board game stores. .