WASHINGTON — While decades of research have failed to find a link between gun violence and graphic depictions of violence in movies and video games, President Donald Trump has bemoaned the prevalence of violent images readily available to kids such as his 11-year-old son.
As the president searches for ways to respond to last month’s Florida school shooting, he was wading into this debate by bringing together representatives of the video game industry and some of their most vocal critics for a discussion Thursday at the White House.
Industry attendees at the meeting include the Entertainment Software Association, the Entertainment Software Rating Board and two CEOS of video game publishers, both of whom are on the Association’s board.
Three Republican lawmakers are expected, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Also attending are a representative of the Parents Television Council, a conservative watchdog group, as well as conservative activist Brent Bozell — a longtime critic of video game violence — and the author of a book linking mass killings to violent video games.
Both sides have made arguments in advance of the event.
Parents Television Council Program Director Melissa Henson said in a statement that she will attend on behalf of “parents who witness daily how the deck is stacked against them when it comes to all forms of violent media.”
The Entertainment Software Association released a statement saying studies “have found no connection between games and real-life violence” and noting that games are played in other countries that don’t have the same level of gun violence. They expressed hope that the meeting will “provide the 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.”
This is not the first time Washington has focused on video game violence.
In 2013, after the shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, Vice President Joe Biden held three days of wide-ranging talks on gun violence prevention including a meeting with video game industry executives. At that meeting, the Entertainment Software Association gave a statement similar to the one it issued on Monday.
After the 2013 meetings wrapped, the White House called for research on the effect of media and video games on gun violence but nothing substantial came out of that.
While Trump has suggested rating both games and movies for violence, ratings already exist.
After an outcry over violent games such as 1992’s “Mortal Kombat,” the Entertainment Software Ratings Board was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Association to give each game a rating based on five-categories ranging from “E” for “Everyone” to “Adults Only” rating for those 18 and older.
In 2011, the Supreme Court rejected a California law banning the sale of violent video games to children. The decision claimed that video games, like other media, are protected by the First Amendment.
In the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the government can’t regulate depictions of violence, which he said were age-old, anyway: “Grimm’s Fairy Tales, for example, are grim indeed.”
Trump has invoked his son Barron as he speaks about video games. At a recent meeting on school violence, he said: “The video games, the movies, the internet stuff is so violent. It’s so incredible. I see it. I get to see things that you wouldn’t be —
you’d be amazed at. I have a young — very young son, who — I look at some of the things he’s watching, and I say, ‘How is that possible?’”
