A pro-Leni Robredo Facebook page criticized Sen. Risa Hontiveros for supposedly proposing a ban on online games following the June 22 school shooting in Tacloban City. This is false, according to the lady senator.
The June 29 post has a 153-word caption encouraging the public to hold politicians accountable for their proposals or statements rather than giving them blind loyalty. It featured a graphic with Hontiveros’ photo and the text:
“Calling out Risa Hontiveros over her call for a total ban on online games is the right thing to do.”
In a June 30 statement, Hontiveros asserted that “[she] never recommended, said, or even thought about banning any game including this GoreBox.” The video game with an R18+ rating “features extreme violence and graphic depictions of blood and dismemberment” and was reportedly played by one of the teenage shooters prior to the June 22 incident.
The senator, who chairs the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, began investigating on July 1 the tragic Tacloban City school shooting that left three students dead and 20 others injured.
“[W]e hope to examine the broader chain of failures that may have contributed to the June 22 shooting, including possible grooming, radicalization, and normalization of violence in online platforms,” Hontiveros said in a social media post.
Divided views on banning online games
It was Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla who urged Congress and relevant government agencies to study a potential ban on violent video games, such as GoreBox, in the Philippines.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is open to proposals seeking to ban online games that depict violence amid concerns about their potential influence on the youth, according to Palace Press Officer Claire Castro.
On the other hand, the Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP) pushed back against banning violent games, arguing that these [mature-rated] games “were never intended for children in the first place.”
Rather than imposing a ban, GDAP recommended a nationwide awareness campaign on game age ratings and parental controls; programs focusing on digital parenting and expanded digital literacy education for students; and stronger collaboration among government agencies, parents, platforms, and the gaming industry.
Nationwide block for ‘GoreBox’
On June 30, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center announced that the controversial video game GoreBox has been blocked in the Philippines through the Google Play Store and gaming distribution platform Steam.
“With this restriction, we are assured that minors will no longer be able to access such a violent game,” Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Aguda was quoted to have said in the CICC statement.
The untrue claim surfaced three days after Felix Filip, the Germany-based developer of GoreBox, declined to attend a Hontiveros-led Senate inquiry on the Tacloban City school shooting. He, however, noted that “for the committee’s record, GoreBox is classified 18+ and is not intended for, or directed at, minors.”
Hontiveros expressed dismay over Filip’s rejection, saying that “any developer or online company that wants to operate here, profit from Filipino users, and reach Filipino children must respect our laws and our institutions.”
Published by fan page Leni Nation (created on Oct. 18, 2015), the spurious post has so far garnered 7,500 reactions; 585 comments and 568 shares.
