Players can no longer create regions or nations with names containing the word "nazi," and moderators will remove existing regions and nations with that word, except where it's obviously benign in nature (such as "Alliance Against Nazis").
What Hasn't Changed
Site policy has long prohibited content that appears to celebrate or endorse violence against real-life people. This includes creating nations in the image of Nazi Germany, because of its close association with the Holocaust. This remains the case, whether or not such nations or regions use the specific word "nazi."
What Has Changed & Why
(1) We've added "nazi" to the list of blocked words that cannot be used in a name when creating a nation or region. This was actually the case previously, but the word was removed from the blocklist in 2016 as some players wanted to use it in benign contexts (such as "Alliance Against Nazis"). From 2016 to now, it was not auto-blocked, but instead those nations were manually assessed by moderators. The block is returning because it led to policy violations slipping under the radar.
Additionally, many "trophy" regions have been captured over the years by gameplay groups who oppose nazi-style ideologies, and while these regions now have no malicious intent, they probably appear malicious to people who see their names and never click through to examine their details. The new word block means these regions can be allowed to expire, as opposed to the previous situation where they had to be held indefinitely to prevent another player from refounding them.
(2) When determining whether a nation or region violates site policy, we now judge names on their own, regardless of context. This is a change because previously we've looked at the entire package of a nation or region to judge its name in context with its flag and other custom fields. The problem with this practice is that moderators primarily examine nations and regions when they are first created, and so sometimes nations or regions pass muster at first, then later, away from moderator scrutiny, adopt a more malicious context via flags, slogans, and other custom fields.
Summary
It is no longer possible to create or revive a nation or region with a name that contains "nazi."
Existing nations and regions with names containing "nazi" will be removed by moderators unless those names are, by themselves, clearly not an attempt to evoke Nazi Germany.
If an existing nation/region's name contains "nazi" in a clearly non-malicious way, it will not be removed, but if it ceases to exist through inactivity, it cannot be restored.
