President Trump is holding a meeting between video game industry executives and their harshest critics.
Getty ImagesThe White House could be the scene of a dramatic showdown Thursday over gun violence and video games.
President Donald Trump has invited executives from the video game industry to meet with him to discuss how depictions of violence may contribute to real-world massacres, like the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, three weeks ago, where 17 people were killed.
“I’m hearing more and more people say the level of violence on video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts,” Trump said in the wake of the shooting. He criticized the movie industry as well.
While the Entertainment Software Association, a trade lobbying group for the video game industry, has said it sees the meeting as an opportunity to have “a fact-based conversation about video game ratings, our industry’s commitment to parents, and the tools we provide to make informed entertainment choices,” it may not play out that way.
Also in the room will be some of the industry’s biggest critics, including Brent Bozell, founder of the Parents Television Council, and Rep. Vicky Hartzler, a Republican from Missouri. Both have heavily criticized violent media.
They aren’t alone. For years, activists and politicians have blamed violence in video games, music and movies amid national debates after gruesome tragedies. Former President Barack Obama encouraged research into the effects of violent video games on children.
But the industry says there is no evidence linking games with violent behavior. “Video games are plainly not the issue,” the ESA said.
Video game ratings
The video game industry has found itself under the national microscope many times before. One of the earliest moments was in the 1990s, following the release of the bloody fighting game Mortal Kombat and a horror game called Night Trap.
Congress began putting together hearings, but before they could begin in December 1993, the video game industry announced the Entertainment Software Rating Board, which would designate which games were best for “general audiences” and which for “mature audiences.”
The ESA says the system has been effective, with surveys showing nearly three-quarters of parents regularly check a game’s rating before purchase, and even more are aware the rating system exists.
Still, that hasn’t stopped some lawmakers from pushing further. In 2005, California lawmakers passed a bill outlawing the sale of video games to anyone under the age of 18, among other things. Six years later, however, the Supreme Court struck down that law, saying video games are protected by the First Amendment.
But that didn’t stop Trump from raising concerns about video games in the wake of the Parkland tragedy.
“It’s shocking to me that we’re having this discussion,” said Michael Pachter, a longtime video game analyst at Wedbush Securities. He noted an argument, also made by the ESA, that violent video games are sold around the world, including places where there’s considerably less gun violence.
The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment about the meeting, nor did representatives for Hartzler or the Parents Television Council.
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