Video Games Blamed For French Riots By President
History has a way of repeating itself; during the 1980s, certain regulatory bodies of the US tried banning heavy metal music, believing that it incentivizes violence and promiscuity among the youth. In the most recent event, as reported by Kotaku, French President Emmanuel Macron is now blaming video games and social media for the French Riots.
What is happening in France?
For those that aren’t in the know, the French capital city experienced several nights of rioting in response to the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old delivery driver. The teenager was shot in the suburb of Paris when he allegedly attempted to drive away from a traffic stop, at which point an officer fired into the car, killing him.
This incurred heavy clashes between the public and the police, with Emmanuel Macron blaming video games for the French riots that have been shaking Paris ever since.
The French capital city experienced several nights of rioting in response to the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old delivery driver.
Furthermore, the French president called on parents to keep their children at home during protests while simultaneously blaming social media for the violence and claiming that video games have influenced the violence and vandalism currently happening on the streets of Paris.
He also stated that the protesters of the French riots were mostly teens and that it was their parents’ responsibility to prevent them from going out and rioting.
“We sometimes have the feeling that some of them are living out, in the streets, the video games that have intoxicated them.”
Emmanuel Macron
Claiming that video games encourage real-life violence is nothing new, even coming from prominent and political figures. In fact, the accusations about video games inspiring violence aren’t anything new. They date back to the 1970s, but the scientific proof backing up these claims is basically non-existent.
The French public have been calling for greater police accountability even before the French riots began. Unfortunately, it took a death of a teenager to fuel the massive public response and for the French president to make an appearance and address the situation, chosing to blame video games and, by extension parents that allow their teenagers to play them, for the vandalism and violence occurring on the streets of Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron recently blamed video games and social media as the cause of recent riots in city streets.
All of this reminds us of Dee Snider’s speech at the Senate hearing in 1985, when Parents Music Resource Center, with Tipper Gore at the helm. Snider, the frontman of Twisted Sister—whose “I Wanna Rock” made it as the soundtrack of 2003’s Will Rock video game—basically turned the tables on Tipper Gore.
He stated that Gore misinterpreted the song “Under the Blade” as being about sadomasochism instead of their guitar player’s throat surgery. He even added that lyrical interpretation is based on confirmation bias and that she found what she was looking for.
