| Onyxmeth said: There are limits to freedom of speech. I don't like it that some people are under the impression that freedom of speech means complete and utter freedom without restrictions. I can yell "fire" in a movie theatre and no one will get hurt necessarily. That doesn't mean it's allowed. I felt uncomfortable about this game since the beginning of this topic, but my stance didn't change until I read the review involving raping a minor. We can all argue over this but I feel that constitutes child pornography, which is illegal in my country. That is where I drew my line. I am getting the feeling that you feel no line should ever be drawn in wht can and cannot be produced into a game. Do you really feel there is no material on earth that could pose a threat to people if allowed to be made? |
I can yell "fire" in a movie theatre and no one will get hurt necessarily. That doesn't mean it's allowed.
Yelling fire in theater is sometimes okay. Suppose, for instance, that no one else is in the theater. Or, suppose that there's an actual fire, and you're warning people to get them to safety.
That's not the point? My point is, where yelling fire gets you into trouble is when you're trying to get people hurt. Most of the "limitations to free speech" that I'd agree with fall under that kind of umbrella, like inciting to riot, or conspiracy to commit murder.
If a game specifically counseled a person to go rape--if it was trying to convince a person to actually commit a crime--then I could understand banning the game, in the same way that if I wrote you an e-mail to try to get you to rob an actual liquor store, that would be criminal on my part. But if I write a book about a robber, or make a video game where you can rob a fictional store... well, it's just not the same thing as telling you to go out and do it.
Even though many people are especially sensitive about rape as opposed to other crimes, it's really the same thing--crime is crime. (And I bet there are people out there who are just as touchy about the crimes presented in a GTA as some people are about rape.)
Do you really feel there is no material on earth that could pose a threat to people if allowed to be made?
Hmm... I'm sure we could imagine several very extreme hypothetical scenarios that would seem a little strange (like, suppose a game that gave people detailed instructions on how to create an atomic bomb...) But, I guess I'd start here: I wouldn't ban any game where the material in question wouldn't be banned in a book or film. So, if we're not going to ban the Marquis de Sade (who wrote about incredible brutality; rape only begins to describe it), then I don't think we ban a game like this.
However, I'd be open to banning a game if we could establish that the information in it constituted a clear and present danger for actual, live human beings. I just don't think that playing a game about rape will make a person a rapist, anymore than I think playing GTA will make a person a mass-murderer, or playing Tapper ever made anyone an alcoholic.
