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War game may contain traces of violence
Padraig Reidy: Tom Watson's backlash against the anti-gamer backlash
By Padraig Reidy
09 Nov 09
Uncategorized

Call of Duty is one of the biggest video games titles out there. In fact, it’s new edition: Modern Warfare 2, is expected to be one of the biggest selling games ever.

Call of Duty games are about war: hence, they tend to be, well, a bit violent. Because they’re war games. And war is violent. This revalation appears to have only just come to Labour MP Keith Vaz, who told the Daily Mail: “I am absolutely shocked by the level of violence in this game and am particularly concerned about how realistic the game itself looks.”

So far, so knee-jerk. But Vaz’s Labour colleague, Tom Watson MP, has reacted angrily to Vaz’s standpoint, and immediately set up a Facebook group called “Gamer’s Voice”, announcing: “Are you sick of UK newspapers and (my fellow) politicians beating up on gaming? So am I. The truth is, UK gamers need their own pressure group. I want to help you start one up.”

Keith Vaz is clearly shocked — shocked! — by games about war being a bit violent. Tom Watson’s clearly sick – sick! – of contrived outrage against games and gamers.

But who’s right? Only one way to find out…

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At Index on Censorship, we believe everyone deserves the right to speak freely, challenge power and share ideas without fear. In a world where governments tighten control and algorithms distort the truth, defending those rights is more urgent than ever.

But free speech is not free. Instead we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism independent, our advocacy sharp and our support for writers, artists and dissidents strong.

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At Index on Censorship, we believe everyone deserves the right to speak freely, challenge power and share ideas without fear. In a world where governments tighten control and algorithms distort the truth, defending those rights is more urgent than ever.

But free speech is not free. Instead we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism independent, our advocacy sharp and our support for writers, artists and dissidents strong.

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At Index on Censorship, we believe everyone deserves the right to speak freely, challenge power and share ideas without fear. In a world where governments tighten control and algorithms distort the truth, defending those rights is more urgent than ever.

But free speech is not free. Instead we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism independent, our advocacy sharp and our support for writers, artists and dissidents strong.

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By Padraig Reidy

Padraig Reidy is the editor of Little Atoms and a columnist for Index on Censorship. He has also written for The Observer, The Guardian, and The Irish Times.

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