Gamers regularly interact with strangers online, creating a portal for sexual predators to reach kids via Xboxes and PlayStations. How is it that these channels weren’t closed to sex offenders sooner?
Not for NY sex offenders.
On Thursday, the state of New York finally decided to close the online game accounts of over 3,500 registered sex offenders and will further ensure children’s safety with weekly updates from the sex-offender registry. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman described online gaming as a “digital playground,” which provides methods of access to children that sex predators would not otherwise be able to establish. New York now requires sex offenders to submit their e-mail addresses and gamer ID’s so the state can keep track of their gaming activity and keep them off of online gaming channels.
New York is the first state to ban sexual predators from online gaming, though not all game companies have agreed to follow suit. So far, the attorney general says the following game companies closed their online gaming activities to sex predators – Microsoft, Sony, EA, Warner Brothers, Disney Interactive Media Group, Blizzard, and Apple. Will it perhaps take hordes of parents, kicking and screaming, to get other companies to ban sex offenders from online gaming interactions, or will other companies do so of their own accord?
KitGuru says: We are grateful strides are being made to protect children and keep games a safe, positive, and fun experience. We only hope that similar actions will be made by other companies and in online gaming interactions around the world!
April 7, 2012
#1
IMO they should have just banned them from buying Non-PG Games. 9 year olds playing PG Games shouldn’t be playing PG Games in the first place. Guy served his prison sentence, why can’t he enjoy CoD or WoW in peace? Because a bunch of 9 year olds with bad parents are playing it too? Might actually get parents to wake up and stop ruining Game Communities by buying kiddies PG Games they shouldn’t be playing. Regardless of what issues the guy has, least he’s over 18, and oh, actually mature, you know?