The illustration shows a screenshot of a video game called “Slavery Simulator” that took place on May 26, 2023 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

A video game called “Slavery Simulator,” which allowed black characters to be bought, sold and even tortured, has been pulled from the app store by Google after sparking a wave of backlash and outrage from Brazilian authorities.

Prosecutors have launched an investigation into alleged “hate speech” against the Portuguese-language application, which has been downloaded more than 1,000 times this week on Google’s Playstore platform.

In the game, participants were given advice to “get rich by using slaves” or “save money by doing everything you can to avoid the abolition of slavery.”

The application’s usage rules indicated that the game was “designed for entertainment purposes only” and that its creators “condemned slavery of any kind.”

According to the Sao Paulo public prosecutor’s office, the game was produced by a company called Magnus Games.

After removing it from its store on Wednesday, Google said in a statement that it does not allow “apps that promote violence against individuals or groups or incite hatred based on their race or ethnic origin.”

The company added that internet users can report this type of content.

Brazil’s Ministry of Racial Equality will take steps to allow for “efficient filtering of content containing hate speech, intolerance and racism” and prevent content from being spread “easily and unmoderately,” according to a release. claimed to have contacted Google for

Racism continues to permeate society in Brazil, the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery in 1888, with more than 56% of the population identifying themselves as of African descent.

“Brazil is one of the major consumers of the Google platform, and introducing an application that commemorates the era of slavery and rewards those who tortured and enslaved the most and those who sell the people they enslaved is an act of racism. and fascism,” he said Friday. Rio de Janeiro representative Renata Souza (PSOL, left).

Google has already clashed with the government earlier this month, publicly criticizing a bill intended to regulate social networks and online content in Brazil, with a link below the search engine.

A Supreme Court judge has ordered an investigation into “misconduct” in the bill, which is due to be voted on by Congress soon.