Following the White House summit on March 8th, 2018 where anti-gaming activists and some of the CEOs from the AAA game publishing studios met to discuss the role violent video games have on shaping the youth of America, the official White House website updated the public about the briefing.
The briefing is short and sweet, explaining that after hearing both sides talk about whether or not violent games have an impact on causing real life violence, President Trump surmised that some of the data presented to him indicated that video games do cause real life violence. The White House briefing states…
“During today’s meeting, the group spoke with the President about the effect that violent video games have on our youth, especially young males. The President acknowledged some studies have indicated there is a correlation between video game violence and real violence.”
For clarification, there are also studies that show that video games do not directly desensitize users to real life violence. There have also been studies showing that the link between video game violence and real violence is very minimal.
In fact, the OJJDP reported that there has been a drastic decline across the board in youth violence from the 1980s up through the 2010s.
As noted in the White House briefing, the conservation was themed around whether or not violent video games affect the youth of America and desensitizes the community to violence. The White House also put together a video compilation of violence in ‘M’ rated games that are designed for those 17 years of age and older. The video was widely criticized by the community as anti-video game propaganda.
The White House had the video unlisted and showed it during the summit. The meeting between President Trump and the video game publishers was also a closed door meeting and was not open to the media.
Some game designers actually agreed with the Republicans in believing that ultra violence has no place in video games, including Deus Ex creator Warren Spector.
I don’t believe games cause violent behavior. Not for one second. However, the videogame reel shown at the White House on Thursday is simply disgusting. Every shot is in colossally bad taste and everyone associated with those games should be ashamed of themselves. They hurt us.
— Warren Spector (@Warren_Spector) March 9, 2018
I realize the violent game video provided no context, but that doesn’t change the fact that the images are in shockingly bad taste. That they could be cut together at all is the problem. Again, I’m just talking about bad taste, not violence in videogames.
— Warren Spector (@Warren_Spector) March 9, 2018
This is just the first of multiple meetings that the White House will have on the topic of video game violence. As noted in the White House briefing, there will be me more talks centered around the topic of public safety and the role media plays when it comes to affecting youth in America…
“This meeting is part of ongoing discussions with local leaders and Congress on issues concerning school and public safety and protecting America’s youth.”
Reuters and Fox News reported that Melissa Hensen from the Parents Television Council felt that the first meeting went well.
The end game is that some Republican politicians want stricter regulation on video games or higher taxes for violent games, despite the fact that a Supreme Court ruling in 2011 protected video games as creative works under the First Amendment.