Consumer Association of Penang recommends banning GTA
The Star has published a letter/email from the President of the Consumer Association of Penang, recommending that the Malaysian government follow the footsteps of the Thai authorities in banning the Grand Theft Auto series, after a young Thai man robbed a taxi and fatally stabbed the driver. It was widely reported that the young man wanted to see how easy it was to hijack the taxi like in the game.
As the CAP has raised the issue of increased aggression of violent videogames in young viewers, I’d like to point out that there are also several well-publicised studies that show that these videogames do not have a lasting negative impact on most players. These instances of raised aggression tend to be short term and are even quite common in teens who participate or watch competitive sports. So do we then start banning football for its links to ‘increased aggression’ in teens? In fact for most cases, videogames can be cathartic, especially for players with pent-up stress. I would advise Mohamed Idris - president of the CAP - to read the insightful Grand Theft Childhood by Harvard Medical School researchers Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson.
Furthermore, I find it odd that while the CAP mentions violent TV programmes in the email, the CAP do not demand that these violent programmes receive the same treatment as violent videogames. If the CAP is fair, then they should also demand equal action to be taken against violent TV programmes, movies, and books that are already in the market. Why single out videogames? Is it because the CAP still assumes that videogames are only for children? Yes, there are videogames for children, but a good deal of games are catered towards us young adults who are mature enough to tell right from wrong, and make sensible, responsible decisions. Too bad I can’t say the same for most of our local politicians.
As a final note, I’d like to inform the CAP that the GTA series have actually been circulating in the country, legally and illegally, for over a decade. Just how many violent crimes commited by young children or teenagers in Malaysia have been attributed to GTA or videogames? As far as I know, there has been NONE. Zero. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong though.
While I can understand the concerns that the CAP has raised, I do believe they have overstepped their boundaries on requesting the government to ban the game, especially when the association’s primary concern should be about protecting consumer rights, NOT, as Game Politics rightly pointed out, limiting our choices as consumers by requesting censorship. Gamers are consumers too, especially us adult gamers who have a right to play and enjoy games with mature content.
