Politicians, Yet Again, Think The Constitution Doesn't Apply To Video Games
from the how-many-times-do-we-have-to-go-through-this dept
Politicians are once again pointing the finger at video game companies for peddling filth, turning kids into sex-crazed violent criminals, generally being a massive danger to society and all that other stuff they like to go on about in the name of “protecting the children”. They’re once again raising the possibility of some sort of ban on selling certain games to minors, despite such laws repeatedly being ruled unconstitutional. In lieu of such a ban, some lawmakers think it would be a great idea for the government to get involved in the video game rating process by forcing it to be more “transparent” and making game publishers submit their games to “independent” outside adjudicators rather than an industry-supported board. Just how independent any such government-mandated group could be is pretty questionable when it would be subject to political whims of lawmakers or government officials. The head of a video game trade group makes the most salient point when he says that without effective parental involvement, any rating or ban will be pointless. So instead of trying to crack down on constitutionally protected free speech, perhaps lawmakers would be better off reinforcing parents’ roles rather than trying to take them over.
