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Do Video Games Need to Be Better Regulated?

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Does Playing Video Games Make Players More Violent?

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Abstract

The final chapter considers what has been learned overall, and discusses how much of a social problem violent video games represent. It examines attempts at classifying video games and their violence for the purposes of regulation and consumer protection. It also discusses the way the scientific evidence has been used (and misused) in legal cases, which have been fought in the context of governments’ attempts to regulate the field more tightly. The issue of whether ‘harm’ exists and has been proven to exist is discussed. The failure of many legal cases to consider all the most relevant evidence raises questions about the independencies, not just of lawyers and policy makers, but also of some scholars. A plea is made for a more balanced approach to collating and critiquing scientific evidence about violent video game effects to ensure that consumer protection measures, and new legislation, is fair to all involved parties. These include the video games industry as well as governments, regulators, consumers, parents, activists, lobbyists and educators.

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  1. Media and Communication, University of Leicester, Loughton, Essex, UK

    Barrie Gunter

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  1. Barrie Gunter
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Gunter, B. (2016). Do Video Games Need to Be Better Regulated?. In: Does Playing Video Games Make Players More Violent?. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57985-0_11

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