Ukrainian Starcraft 2 player Mykhailo 'Kas' Gaida has been disqualified from a Fragbite Masters tournament of Blizzard's strategy title due to what the group calls "inappropriate behaviour" in the form of a rape tweet.
In his tweet, since deleted, Gaida wrote "Going to rape some girls soon. #fragbitemasters". He subsequently apologised for his comments, stating "Sorry to everyone, sometimes I [post] really stupid tweets, hate myself for that. 🙁 Sorry."
Pontus Eskilsson, head of the Fragbite Masters, wrote on the tournament's website, "First of all, I have to say that this is terrible. We will never stand for this kind of behaviour, and therefore a disqualification is highly appropriate. We need to show the players that these kinds of toxic acts have consequences. We have learned that the opponent in question has been dealt criticism for our penalty towards Kas, but we can assure you, this decision was made completely by the Fragbite Masters staff."
While it may be common game parlance to say a defeated player was "raped", it is of course highly offensive and indicative of a culture which perhaps needs to re-evaluate what's acceptable. If nothing else, this is a reminder that Twitter and other social media outlets are, by their very nature, public spaces and what's said there isn't easily erased or forgotten.