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Minecraft could actually be banned in Turkey after a government investigation concluded that the game is excessively violent.
The country’s family and social policies minister Aysenur Islam last month ordered an investigation into the game to assess its suitability for children.
Although one would hope that the ministry at least discovered that the game does not award players with points for killing other characters – including women”, as was originally alleged, it has still nonetheless found enough cause for concern to press ahead with a potential national ban on the game.
It conceded that while the game has many creative benefits, the need to kill creatures to survive means that fundamentally it is based on violence”. As a result the Family and Social Policies Ministry is, according to VentureBeat, petitioning the government’s legal department to put a ban into place.
Although the country doesn’t have a history of banning games, it has previously blocked access to the likes of 4chan, the official website of atheist Richard Dawkins, certain Wikipedia pages (such as the entries for ‘vagina’ and ‘penis’) and, on more than one occasion, YouTube.
Minecraft is enjoyed by many players in a wide variety of ways,” a Mojang spokesperson said. Many enjoy the creative freedom that’s presented by Minecraft and its tools, some are more interested by the opportunity to explore a landscape without boundaries and to go on exciting adventures with friends. We encourage players to cooperate in order to succeed, whether they’re building, exploring, or adventuring.
The world of Minecraft can be a dangerous place: it’s inhabited by scary, genderless monsters that come out at night. It might be necessary to defend against them to survive. If people find this level of fantasy conflict upsetting, we would encourage them to play in Creative Mode, or to enable the Peaceful setting. Both of these options will prevent monsters from appearing in the world.”
