Brazilians explore banning "offensive" and violent videogames

Posted By Jordana Timerman Wednesday, December 9, 2009 - 12:54 PM Share

New reports of 11,000 people killed by Brazilian police over the past six years are perhaps one indication that violence in the super-star Amazon country has gotten a wee bit out of hand.

Never fear, there is a long term solution already under consideration: prohibit "offensive" video games, with the option to punish their distribution with jailtime. In all honesty, Brazilian Senator Valdir Raupp probably did not have human rights violations in mind when he proposed the bill, which was recently approved by Senate's Education Committee. It follows on the ban last year on violent computer role-playing games "Counter-Strike" and "EverQuest," and Venezuela and China's bans on warlike and mobster-glorifying games respectively.

CNET's Dave Rosenberg has lambasted Brazil's move, suggesting they deal with "larger social issues, including lack of parental oversight," instead. They praise the US system of industry self-regulation, which relies on ratings to isolate children from violent games.

The Brazilian law is probably overkill, but lets not get all starry eyed about the glories of free-market entertainment violence. Did nobody notice a few years back when U.S. generals begged Hollywood producers to stop showing torture in a favorable light, since troops were getting inspiration on prisoner treatment from 24?

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STARBUCK

2:10 PM ET

December 9, 2009

Brazil is the country that

Brazil is the country that gave us "Two Girls, One Cup", but they decide to censor violent video games?

GRANT

8:35 AM ET

December 10, 2009

My response to the Brazilians

My response to the Brazilians is the same as to the generals:

"Clean up your own mess!"

If one didn't have a culture where the police and criminals race to be the most violent and the other didn't have a system of avoiding the truth on what soldiers are doing at every chance this wouldn't be a problem.

MICHELLEF1982

4:37 PM ET

December 10, 2009

Supply driving demand?

I wonder if some of Brazil's new policy on banning certain types of violent video games is a classic example of government policy (i.e. "supply") driving the belief that these games are actually responsible for high rates of crime in Brazil (i.e. demand). Something scarily similar coming to mind is the PATRIOT Act and other such fear-promoting policies that created the belief we needed this protection in the first place.

Brazil's inequality measures are startling. The government has a lot to do, despite recent progress. But at the end of the day, politicians will always resort to "innovative" ways to be relevant and create support.

I'm assuming that scantily clad tourists and residents are amble motivation for wreckless behavior along some of Brazil's beaches. But I doubt we will see a ban on bakinis anytime soon!

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