Minecraft May be Banned for Encouraging Violence, Animal Torture

When you think of games that might get banned in foreign nations, what comes to mind? Call of Duty? Manhunt? Grand Theft Auto? Well, if you did… you’d be right, I mean, all those games HAVE been banned, but now a new game is at risk of joining them: Minecraft.

That’s right, Minecraft. Last Month, Turkey unveiled plans to investigate Minecraft for violence in a broader motion to censor violence in children’s media. Turkey considered the fact that you could attack ‘villagers’ and animals to be something that could corrupt the youth, while anyone who had half a lick of knowledge about the game assured officials that seriously, Minecraft was one of the least violent games out there.

Well, after a month of investigation, Turkey’s Family and Social Policies Ministry disagrees. They reaffirmed that the game is violent, and announced that it should, in fact, be banned. The matter will officially be brought up to the courts to decide, once and for all, if Minecraft should be banned within Turkey’s borders.

"Although the game can be seen as encouraging creativity in children by letting them build houses, farmlands and bridges, mobs [hostile creatures] must be killed in order to protect these structures. In short, the game is based on violence,"

The report also says that children might (sigh) confuse the digital world for the real world and may start torturing animals, oblivious of the fact they’re causing pain. They said that the game might cause ‘social isolation’ and ‘cyber bullying’, which… okay that part might be true. But still.

For what it’s worth, Minecraft is extremely popular in Turkey (but it’s popular EVERYWHERE, so that’s no shocker) and opposition to the ban has risen immediately. Still, it’s a matter for the courts now… not that a country-wide ban would be that bad, really. Pirate Bay to the rescue!