High Court: Violent Video Game Bans Violate Free Speech

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states do not have the right to prevent kids from buying violent video games because a ban would violate children’s rights to free speech.

The 7-2 decision stemmed from a case involving a state law in California banning the sale of violent video games to minors, but the court ruled that violence has always been protected speech, whether it is found in children’s books or video games. So, that leaves it up to parents -- not the government -- to decide and enforce what their children can access.

When it comes to video games, there is no comparison from the early days of Atari and Nintendo to what is playing now. Some are contain sexual themes, the violence is substantially more prevalent and realistic, and some games are chock full of curse words.

Still, it’s an industry that rakes in nearly $20 million annually and is continuing to grow. Catering to both adults and children, games are evolving from the old school levels to what is essentially a choose-your-own-adventure film, complete with a customizable cast of characters and a story line.

Lawmakers in California said -- just like movies can be restricted for certain audiences -- the generations who can’t buy a beer, cigarettes or a pornographic magazine shouldn’t be able to mimic those actions or access adult material via video games.

“In the past, we’ve protected them from alcohol, cigarette ads and pornography, and we believe this is on that level,” said George Fouras, MD with the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

The Supreme Court disagreed, and in doing so, shot down the legislation.

“Basically, what they said was asking the court to create a new area of speech that isn’t protected by the constitution,” said Jane Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota.

Though Kirtley said the court has ruled that minors can be barred from viewing pornography, violence has never had its First Amendment protection questioned.

“A lot of material children have had access too for hundreds of years is very violent,” Kirtley explained. “Justice Scalia talked about Grim’s Fairry Tales, Warner Brothers cartoons -- both depict violence and no one has ever suggested (children) shouldn't see that.”

The Supreme Court also pointed to the rating system used by game manufacturers to inform parents and protect children, which is similar to the Motion Picture Association’s rating guide to keep minors out of risqué movies. Though it’s not a law, most reputable game outlets won’t sell mature rated games to minors without a parent present in much the same way that movie theaters wouldn’t let a minor into an R-rated film.

“I do inform them if they are buying a mature game for a small child,” said Grant Judish, at High Score Video Games, ‘but, if they say it’s OK, it’s totally their call as a parent.”