Hillary Clinton gives her stand on video games and the media
Common Sense Media recently submitted a questionnaire to the 2008 US presidential candidates, asking them: “What […] strategies would you support to keep the video game industry […] from marketing and selling inappropriate content to children?”
Perhaps the most interesting answer comes from candidate Hillary Clinton, who introduced the Family Entertainment Protection Act back in 2005, circa Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas era. Read her answer in the full article.
Common Sense Media recently submitted a questionnaire to the 2008 US presidential candidates, asking them their views on children and the media. How does this concern gamers you ask? Well here’s the second question:
To date, nearly 10 states have considered legislation to keep violent video games out of kids’ hands. Would you support this type of legislation at the federal level? What other strategies would you support to keep the video game industry and other media companies from marketing and selling inappropriate content to children?
Perhaps the most interesting answer comes from candidate Hillary Clinton, who introduced the Family Entertainment Protection Act back in 2005. The act called to impose fines to those who would sell “Mature” or “Adult only” rated games to minors.
The bill was introduced because of the controversy surrounding Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Although the bill didn’t become law, Clinton seems as firm as ever in her resolve on the issue. Here’s her response to the question:
When I introduced the Family Entertainment Protection Act two years ago, I did so because I felt that video game content was getting increasingly violent and sexually explicit, yet young people were able to purchase these games with relative ease while their parents were struggling to keep up with being informed about the content.
[…] The bill would […] require an annual, independent analysis of game ratings and require the Federal Trade Commission to conduct an investigation to determine whether hidden sexual content like what was in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a pervasive problem and to take appropriate action.
In addition, the bill would help ensure that consumers have a mechanism to file complaints with the FTC and that the FTC would report these complaints to Congress.
Finally, the bill would authorize the FTC to conduct an annual, random audit of retailers to monitor enforcement and report the findings to Congress.
I was motivated to take action when I found out that there was embedded illicit sexual content in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board was unaware of the embedded content. I called on the FTC to investigate the source of the content and, as a result, the company issued a recall of the game.
When I am president, I will work to protect children from inappropriate video game content.
Read the answers from other presidential candidates – Senator John Edwards, Senator Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson and Governor Mitt Romney – by following the link below.
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