The Supreme Court today struck down a 2005 California law that would restrict the sale of violent video games to minors, citing a lack of evidence that violent video games were harmful to them and protection granted by the First Amendment. The 7-2 ruling brings to an end a six-year legal battle after the bill banning the sale of violent video games was signed into law in 2005. Instead, the court upheld that the current, voluntary rating system managed by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board is both sufficient and less restrictive than the intended law, as well as the wording of the intended law being far too vague.
In an important legal precedent, the court claimed that video games could not be withheld the same protections as literature and film simply due to it being a different form of media.
Video games qualify for First Amendment protection. Like protected books, plays, and movies, they communicate ideas through familiar literary devices and features distinctive to the medium. And “the basic principles of freedom of speech . . . do not vary” with a new and different communication medium.
As California has not actively attempted to restrict other forms of media such as film, literature, and television, the court felt that a law restricting the sale of violent video games was both underinclusive and raised “serious doubts about whether the State is pursuing the interest it invokes or is instead disfavoring a particular speaker or viewpoint.”
Of course, there were arguments conjured that were not as favorable, such as the possibility that video games stand apart from other forms of media due to interactivity and a fear that video games are becoming too realistic. Also, citing a few concerns, two justices — Thomas and Breyer — believed the law should be upheld. While Breyer’s reasoning was due to a belief that the law was, in fact, not vague, Justice Thomas seemed to believe that freedom of speech should be restricted in cases where it supersedes parental authority.
Despite the dissenting opinions, however, this is a victory for gamers, the industry, and the idea of video games as an artistic medium. Unfortunately, this is probably not the last time we will see video games under scrutiny in attempt to “protect the children.”
Video games are being afforded the same protections that other forms of media enjoy. And that’s definitely something that should matter to gamers.
The full text of the Supreme Court’s decision can be found here.