Turkey’s ‘family’ ministry wants to ban Minecraft — just like it did with 4Chan

[steve2470]

http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/10/turkeys-family-ministry-wants-to-ban-minecraft-just-like-it-did-with-4chan/

Minecraft is too darn violent.

This is the conclusion Turkey’s Family and Social Policies Ministry came to after investigating the megapopular block-building game (as first reported by Hurriyet Daily News). As a result, that government agency wants to ban Minecraft. The ministry claims that the open-world game encourages children to resort to violence against enemies and animals. The report goes on to claim that children who play Minecraft are in danger of “social isolation.” The ministry is now petitioning the government’s legal department to go forth with the process to ban Minecraft. The country has a history of blocking websites that it finds offensive. It has previously prevented access to the image-sharing message board 4Chan, the website of atheist author Richard Dawkins, and — on occasion — Google’s video site, YouTube.

Turkey does not have a reputation for limiting the sale of video games. It has a bustling mobile-gaming market that is growing north of $500 million. And while most people play online in Internet cafes, the big consoles makers are also sell their systems in the country. So it is out of character for the country to take action against something like Minecraft — although it maybe felt compelled to do so since the game has such a grip on children.

Minecraft is one of the most popular games in the world as well as in Turkey — especially among children. Last year, developer Mojang and its founder, Markus “Notch” Persson, sold Minecraft to Microsoft for $2.5 billion. It is widely seen as a creative outlet that enables young people to explore a virtual world while building structures and tools. If Turkey does go through with a ban, it will go down as the first country to do so when it comes to Minecraft.

[Scootaloo]

1. True fact: 67% of expletives on the internet are the direct result of creeper explosions