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To address violent video games, several U.S. states passed laws that restricted the sale of mature video games, particularly those with violent or sexual content, to children. Video game industry groups fought these laws in courts and won.
- Background
- Legal Challenges
- Opinion
- Reactions
- Further Reading
- External Links
Many video games, as early as 1976's Death Race, incorporate some aspect of violence into the gameplay mechanic, such as killing an enemy with a weapon, using explosives to destroy a structure, or engaging in dangerous vehicle races. With modern technology, representations of such violence have become more realistic. This has led to concerns that m...
The District Court opinion
Before the California bill was signed into law, the ESA and the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA), now known as the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA), were preparing a lawsuit to overturn the law, fearing that the "violent video game" definition would affect many titles that the ESRB has otherwise labeled appropriate for younger players, and threaten to harm the video game industry. The VSDA filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California...
The Ninth Circuit appeal
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appealed the ruling in September 2007, stating that he would "vigorously defend this law" and that he and the people of California have "a responsibility to our kids and our communities to protect against the effects of games that depict ultra-violent actions". The Ninth Circuit Court of Appealsaffirmed Whyte's decision in 2009. The Ninth Circuit considered the constitutionality of the law; given the timeframe of the law's passing relative to litigati...
Supreme Court appeal
Schwarzenegger again appealed to the Supreme Court, looking to overturn the Ninth Circuit's ruling, filing a writ of certiorari to the Court in May 2009. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, at this point filed as Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Ass'n. The fact that the Court accepted this case was considered surprising, based on the previous case record for such violent video game laws that were unanimously overturned in other states. Analysts believed that because the Court...
On June 27, 2011, the Supreme Court issued a 7–2 opinion striking down the California law as unconstitutional on the basis of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The majority opinion was authored by Justice Antonin Scalia and joined by Justices Ginsburg, Kennedy, Sotomayor, and Kagan. It first held that "video games qualify for First Amendment pro...
The ruling was praised by the video game industry, which had expected the law to be ruled unconstitutional, but sought affirmation by the Court. ESA's CEO, Michael Gallagher, responded that "The Court declared forcefully that content-based restrictions on games are unconstitutional; and that parents, not government bureaucrats, have the right to de...
Norris, Robert Bryan Jr. (2011). "It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Hurt: Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association and the Probleme of Interactivity" (PDF). North Carolina Journal of La...Pollard-Sacks, Deana; Bushman, Brad J.; Anderson, Craig A. (2011). "Do Violent Video Games Harm Children? Comparing the Scientific Amicus Curiae 'Experts' in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Associ...Post, David G. (2012). "Sex, Lies, and Videogames: Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association". Temple University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2012-03. SSRN 1937639.Rousse, Thomas (2011). "Electronic Games and the First Amendment: Free Speech Protection for New Media in the 21st Century". Northwestern Interdisciplinary Law Review. 4 (1): 173–233. SSRN 1868759.Text of Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Ass'n, 564 U.S. 786 (2011) is available from:CourtListenerGoogle ScholarJustiaLibrary of CongressSupreme Court of the United States: docket for Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, #08-1448- Alito (in judgment), joined by Roberts
- Scalia, joined by Kennedy, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan
- Thomas
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Feb 28, 2013 · “Playing violent video games increases aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, and physiological arousal.” Lacking such a study, scientists have studied video game violence in more limited...
Oct 1, 2010 · The researchers found that certain situations increased exposure to violent video games — such as locating game consoles and computers in children's bedrooms, and allowing older siblings to share games with younger ones.
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Mar 13, 2018 · In contrast, the present study is the first to investigate the effects of long-term violent video gameplay using a large battery of tests spanning questionnaires, behavioural measures of...
Aug 26, 2019 · Historically, video games have played a verifiable role in a handful of mass shootings, but the science linking video games to gun violence is murky. A vast body of psychology research,...
