The war against video game violence has reached the nation’s highest court . California is attempting to prohibit the sale of violent video games to minors by making it a criminally punishable offense to do so. However, organizations, including the ACLU and the US gaming industry, have spoken up claiming that preventing individuals from buying certain products is similar to censorship and not part of the government’s responsibilities.
(More on Techland: AIAS President Emeritus Joseph Olin on Video Games’ Supreme Court Case)
An article on TIME.com points out that part of the problem resides in the wording of the law. Games that are determined “deviant or morbid” will be banned, but it can be hard to pinpoint which games fall in these categories. Violence rooted in fantasy might be as brutal as realistic violence, and it can be hard to say which one, if not both, should be out of the hands of children.