Protection of Video Games

Protection of Video Games

Video game rating has been considered unprotected speech under the Assembly Bill 1179 of 2005. The Bill described violent video games as destructive and influential. Similarly, the sale of such video games to children under 18 years without the consent of their parents was prohibited. The entire discussion on whether to regulate the rating and sale of video games as protected or unprotected free speech like other literary materials such as books and music has been a battlefield of ideas. Video game rating and sale should be regulated under Protected free speech.

Having video games rating and sale regulated and Protected free speech does not entirely mean a reckless release of obnoxious content to the children as many might have thought it to be. Video games are literary means of communication, and they deserve constitutional protection. After all, not all violent video games are malicious or carry a misleading message. Many of them are educative and always have a moral lesson. Besides, the First Amendment offers protection to content creators under free speech law, and therefore, it is the consumer of the content to decide what to consume. The parent should know better to interpret the game to the child because there is always a literally hidden message.

The opponents of video game protection have since the passage of the Assembly Bill of 1179 2005, mixed the conception of violent and sexual content. Sexual content is different from video games and could be rated as pornographic, and the appropriate law applied to that.  The Brown vs. Entertainment Merchants Association case overruled the baseless 1179 Bill since video games are not obscene and, therefore, cannot be solely limited based on protecting the youth from a could be unsuitable content.