Should Sales of Violent Video Games Be Restricted? (3/17/11)

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Should Sales of Violent Video Games be Restricted?


Jim Steier, Founder and CEO, Common Sense Media

George Rose, Executive VP and Chief Public Policy Officer, Activision Blizzard Inc.

Michael McConnell, Director, Stanford Constitutional Law Center; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution

John Diaz, Editorial Page Editor, San Francisco Chronicle - Moderator


Do violent video games present a danger to national safety? Should selling them be restricted, as with pornography? Critics argue that there is a link between children's exposure to violent video games and their increased likelihood to commit violent acts. In a time when it is very easy for individuals to carry out senseless acts of violence, the state government has passed a law that bans the sale of video games deemed “ultra-violent” to children under 18. AB 1179 was signed into law by Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2005 but is not in effect because of an injunction. The Supreme Court has heard arguments and will soon decide how far the government should go to protect the well-being of our children in a case that touches on free speech, national safety and the rights of video game manufacturers and retailers.


This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on March 17, 2011