Presidential Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced at a briefing Thursday that President Trump plans to meet with members of the video game industry next week “to see what they can do” on the issue of gun violence.
Details on specific timing and attendance for the meeting weren’t immediately available, but Sanders cast the meeting as of a piece with multiple others that have already taken place between the president and “a number of stakeholders” in the gun violence debate. “This is going to be an ongoing process and something that we don’t expect to happen overnight, but something we’re going to continue to be engaged in and continue to look for the best ways possible to protect schools across the country,” Sanders said.
The announcement comes after multiple statements in recent days in which the president called out the “incredible” level of violence in video games and other media while publicly mulling changes to the existing voluntary rating systems that help guide parental media purchases.
“It’s hard to believe that at least for a percentage—maybe it’s a small percentage of children—this [media violence] doesn’t have a negative impact on their thought process,” Trump said Wednesday at a meeting with lawmakers. The scientific consensus, though, suggests there is no link between violent outcomes and exposure to violent media.
In the wake of the Sandy Hook school massacre in late 2012, Vice President Joe Biden hosted a number of researchers and video game industry executives at the White House to discuss any potential links between industry actions and real-world violence. That meeting drew some controversy from portions of the industry afraid of being scapegoated for real-world shootings. But while the Obama administration proposed additional federal funding for research into the link between game violence and real violence, the meeting didn’t lead to much concrete action on either side.
The Entertainment Software Association, a lobbying group that represents many major video game publishers in Washington, was not immediately available to respond to a request for comment.
Update 7:12pm ET: In a statement provided to Ars Technica, the Entertainment Software Association said that “ESA and our member companies have not received an invitation to meet with President Trump.” That membership includes all of the biggest video game publishers in the United States, making it unclear who exactly is slated to attend Trump’s announced meeting.
The ESA statement continues:
The same video games played in the US are played worldwide; however, the level of gun violence is exponentially higher in the US than in other countries. Numerous authorities have examined the scientific record and found there is no link between media content and real-life violence. The US video game industry has a long history of partnering with parents and more than 20 years of rating video games through the Entertainment Software Rating Board. We take great steps to provide tools to help players and parents make informed entertainment decisions.
https://arstechnica.com/?p=1268277