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Turkey: Ministry To Investigate Minecraft 'violence'

Turkey: Ministry to investigate Minecraft violence News from Elsewhere... ... media reports from around the globe, discovered by BBC Monitoring

9 February 2015

According to reports, the government of Turkey is looking into allegations that Minecraft is violent enough.

The game is suitable for children aged between 7 and 10 years old in most of Europe and the United States. However, Turkey's family and social policy minister, Aysenur Islam, has requested an investigation into claims that it promotes violence according to the Haberturk website reports. If the game is considered to be violent, the government could request a nationwide ban, the website says. A journalist informed Mrs. Islam that players earn points for killing other characters, such as women. Presta live She asked her ministry what they could do to address the issue. The Pan European Game Information group, which assigns ratings to computer games, says Minecraft contains "non-realistic-looking violence towards characters which, although human, are not very detailed".

A journalist from a Turkish gaming magazine says that the ministry's concerns are unfounded. Kaan Gezer, a Leadergamer journalist, claimed that she's never seen an infant take a sword and assault people due to Minecraft. "Stories like these can are what cause the Turkish video gaming industry to stall or even worsen." Minecraft is extremely popular among gamers of all ages, and reached its 100 millionth user in February 2014. It has also been used by teachers at a number of schools in the UK.

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