Turkey’s Family Ministry Says Minecraft Promotes Violence, Must Be Banned

Turkey wants to ban Minecraft. The Family and Social Policies Ministry of Turkey has concluded that the popular video game encouraged children to resort to violence, hence must be banned in the country.

A report prepared by Turkey’s Children Services General Directorate, explained: “Although the game can be seen as encouraging creativity in children by letting them build houses, farmlands and bridges, mobs [hostile creatures] must be killed in order to protect these structures. In short, the game is based on violence”.

A spokesperson from Mojang, developer of Minecraft sold to Microsoft for $2.5 billion in 2014, responded to the possibility of Minecraft’s ban in Turkey:

“Minecraft is enjoyed by many players in a wide variety of ways. Many enjoy the creative freedom that’s presented by Minecraft and its tools; some are more interested by the opportunity to explore a landscape without boundaries and to go on exciting adventures with friends. We encourage players to cooperate in order to succeed, whether they’re building, exploring, or adventuring.

“The world of Minecraft can be a dangerous place: it’s inhabited by scary, genderless monsters that come out at night. It might be necessary to defend against them to survive. If people find this level of fantasy conflict upsetting, we would encourage them to play in Creative Mode, or to enable the Peaceful setting. Both of these options will prevent monsters from appearing in the world”.

The report claims that players must kill hostile creatures in order to protect their creations, therefore kids would lose empathy for real animals. The report further claims that the game would lead to social isolation and would expose children to online bullying.