Ralph Nader: Video game makers are "electronic child molesters"

Former presidential candidate Ralph Nader speaks during a news conference July 2, 2012 at Public Citizen in Washington, DC. / Alex Wong/Getty Images

Political activist and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader has come down hard on video games. In fact, he has gone as far as to call the companies that make them "electronic child molesters."

In a recent interview with Politico, Nader blasted President Obama's gun control package that was unveiled last week. The two-time Green Party presidential candidate said that the president's plan needs to go further in regulating video game creators that add violence to their games.

"Television program violence? Unbelievable. Video game violence? Unprecedented," Nader told Politico. "I'm not saying he wants to censor this, I think he should sensitize people that they should protect their children family by family from these kinds of electronic child molesters."[sic]

Nader's outrage comes on the heels of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where 20 children and six others were killed by a 20-year-old shooter.

This isn't the first time Nader has used the phrase "electronic child molesters." After the Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Colo., in 1999 when two students from the school murdered 12 students and one teacher, Nader raged that corporations shared some of the blame.

"All this is fine with the companies -- these boys and girls spent more than $25 billion last year, and what they got in return is violent, addictive, and tawdry sensuality," Nader wrote in his blog at the time. "These electronic child molesters have little sense of restraint or boundaries. Their odious fare is becoming more coarse, more violent, and more interactive to seduce these youngsters into an addiction of direct video game involvement in the mayhem."

This article originally appeared on CNET under the headline "Ralph Nader: Video game firms are 'electronic child molesters.'"

[RichardKanePhillyPA]

Nader and commenters both left the armed forces off the hook. How can we yawn while we kill Afghans without James Homes yawning death while he sleep walks as well
http://www.destructoid.com/why-do-the-kids-love-call-of-duty--204608.phtml

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/waging-war/a-new-generation/the-army-experience-center.htm

[RichardKanePhillyPA]

Nader and commenters you let the armed forces off the hook,
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/waging-war/a-new-generation/the-army-experience-center.html

[RichardKanePhillyPA]

Somehow I missed this despite being an active Green.

A small change would be Call of Duty not stating a new rampage until 10 minutes after all died in the last one, allowing Adam Lanzas mother to get him food instead of dieing from the effort.

Of course there would have still been the Right Wing youth camp rampage in Noway, and the militant Muslim one at a Jewish School in France

readersupportednews.org/pm-section/419-gun-control-/16523-gun-violence-war-and-war-video-simulations

[AlpsStranger]

Oh hey, look, the old consumer advocate is feigning relevance.

I have an important message for you, dear Ralphie: I'm a grown ass man and I'm going to play whatever the hell I feel like.

German gamers already play the most violent games in the world right under the thumb of one of the strictest game regulation regimes in the world. It won't be different here, and our framework won't allow your regulators 1/10th of the reach German ones have.

Do you really think a few boring, grey-faced moral guardians can suppress our culture with the help of some inept representatives and senators?

So go ahead. We can make a meta-game of gaming. You try and stop me from playing stuff and I'll see how trivially I can work around whatever tiny, token roadblock you throw up.

[maistir]

Never thought I'd agree with Nader about anything much at all, but this stuff is complete garbage and it is the steady diet of a subculture of slackers. Some few may handle the toxin without harm to themselves, but they are the exceptions that prove the rule. Let's not even get into the passive inactivity it breeds, or the notional habit that problems and conflicts can be resolved by pressing a button or pulling a trigger. Of course, Nader's metaphor is over the top.

[Scimajor]

"but this stuff is complete garbage "

Proof positive your talking about something you know little or nothing about. It's like a child saying they hate the taste of a food they've never even tried.

Many video games are an outlet for creativity (e.g. Minecraft). Personally, I'd rather my son play Minecraft than damage his brain by playing football.

[tryreading]

I do not allow violent video games in my house, I monitor the violence and sex my kids see on TV and in movies, and I don't allow guns or violent toys (ok, my son has a nerf gun, but he is not allowed to point it at people), and if they do see things that are inappropriate, I talk to them about why it is against our values. And I have been ridiculed by family and a few friends about by positions. The gun violence issue is not one-sided. It is about gun fanaticism (not necessarily all gun owners), acceptance of violence in speech, action and entertainment, fear of not being the "cool" parent, and mental health issues. It's time to stop being selfish and pointing fingers. We need comprehensive ideas.

[HistoryNote]

There is an "Entitlement Mentality" among today's youth that worries me as much the "violent game syndrome". I worry that gun ownership, and gun violence is regarded as "entitlement" to youngsters today.

[jjay111]

Gun ownership IS an "entitlement." I prefer the term "constitutional right." We don't need regulation of gun ownership. We need to enforce the laws about misuse of guns -- and other weapons -- to commit robberies, murders, etc. What's broken in our country isn't that people are entitled to own guns and other weapons. What's broken is our judicial system, which fails to appropriately deal with proven offenders. What's also broken is our society, which tolerates our children being exposed daily to violent, vicious, grotesque images that desensitize them and lead them to accept violence as an acceptable means for achieving most of their life goals. We need to teach restraint -- not license.

[driftwood-ct]

I never was a big Nader fan, but he is right about these insidious video games. The powerful video game industry promotes and relies on gamers, mostly young males, becoming addicted to violence. What's scary to me is how gamers boast about the intense pleasure they derive from participating in fantasy killing and torture, and see nothing wrong with it! Oh yeah, it's only a "game" You switch it off and it's over. Is it?

[RTNielsen]

Electronic child molesters, is this guy for real? The average gamer is 25 to 35. Im 31 myself, i grew up with games and so did alot of my friends. And im still a gamer.

And fyi. If YOU expose your 10-13 year old to a M rated game it is not the game industry thats a fault. The blame can only be placed on retailers and most importen you as a parent for not checking up on your own damn kids.

Take note of Japan, gaming is a way of life over there, like zero school shootings. Only in the USA do still consider it "childs entertainment".

Fix your society, fix your easy access to guns (especially for families with kids that suffer from bullying, depression and what not).

This Naders Logic is beyond flawed.

[djberson]

Well in this country it is child's entertainment, so grow up.

[facelessdrone2005]

Yeah, DJBerson, in this country real adults watch real adult entertainment, like "The Bachelor" and "Big Brother" and "Storage Wars" and the Kardashians. It's much more mature to sit on your @$$ on a couch and watch mindless cr@p than actually using your brain to interact with other human beings in a game. And I also want to commend you on such a mature response to RTNielsen -- responding to his well-reasoned post with "grow up" was simply brilliant.

[scoobydoobydank]

Violence is an aspect of video games that makes a simulation of a life or death scenario, which most games are based upon. To win, you are supposed to avoid dying. These games are the best sellers, Call of Duty and Battlefield are a ton more recognizable than something as soft as Nickelodean's games because the thrill of defeating the enemy is exactly what gamers typically go for when playing video games. You cannot make a game about an armed character without including graphic visuals. Gore and death happen everywhere in the world and it always has, and banning violent video games is an extremely bad idea and would lead to angered gamers and a terribly crippled video game market. I am learning to 3d model and make use of a game engine to make video games, and I can imagine so many topics to make a game upon that must include gore and incredibly sadistic scenes to fit the atmosphere and story. If there were restrictions put on commercial games in an attempt to ward off children from getting murderous ideas, it would show how misinformed the government is. I totally agree something should be done about gun violence but to take such an easy path as to blame video games should be shunned upon.

[HistoryNote]

It is, after all, just a game. We should naturally expect children to get that. Right?