The Impact of Computer Games

Computer and Video Games (Global Market)

Main article: Computer and video games (global market)

History

2023: Roskomnadzor named the main risks of computer games that should be worked out by the state

The Kribrum company (a developer of solutions for searching and analyzing destructive content on the Internet) and the GRCC (subordinate to Roskomnadzor) have prepared a study on the risks and opportunities of the industry in Russia. Kommersant wrote about this document at the end of August 2023.

According to the authors of the report, the problems posed by computer games include cyberbullying, the popularization of non-traditional values, and the formation of a negative image of Russia. The vast majority of computer games are created "in countries that are part of the Western, Euro-Atlantic cultural space, and the images of Russians in such games are often mythologized and emphatically negative," according to Kribrum and GRCC.

Among the problems posed by computer games are cyberbullying, the popularization of non-traditional values, and the formation of a negative image of Russia

According to the deputy head of Roskomnadzor, Vladimir Logunov, computer games are one of the elements of educating young people, and they should not contain the facts of changing history. The state seeks to form a reasonable perception of historical events in the real and virtual world, he said.

Our task is to create reliable mechanisms for a creative policy so that we have our own games, our own technologies for delivering the right content, so that the games that appeared on the Russian market, they primarily protect our people, protect our history, do not promote violence and cruelty, "Logunov added.

Kribrum and GRCC note that online gaming communities act as a channel of communication with the youth environment and can serve as a "tool for information impact states on society." Such communities, the authors of the report believe, should be considered as a "channel for promoting political ideas, brands and attitudes in the youth environment," which may require the development of technological tools for working with such communities.^[1]

2022

Chinese authorities say they have solved the problem of children's gambling addiction

On November 22, 2022, data provider CNG and the Chinese Gaming Industry Research Institute announced that the PRC authorities had managed to solve the problem of gambling addiction among children and adolescents.

In September 2021, Chinese regulators introduced new rules prohibiting people under 18 from playing video games for more than three hours a week. Such a severe restriction is dictated by the desire of the authorities to limit the growing dependence on the so-called "spiritual opium" among young people. The move was part of a larger program of regulatory measures against the Chinese technology sector. In fact, we are talking about attempts to tighten control over the gaming industry of the Celestial Empire.

Chinese authorities have solved the problem of children's gambling addiction

The initiative was supported by such well-known companies as Tencent Holdings, NetEase, Perfect World and others. The CNG reported that, according to statistics, more than 75% of young people in China now spend less than three hours a week on video games. This, it is claimed, "commendable" result was demonstrated by the introduction of special tools that allow you to track the time that users spend in online gaming universes.

The new rules include a number of other measures designed to eliminate gaming addiction in the country. Thus, connection to online gaming platforms in China is possible only after registration in your real name. For companies that violate the established regime, punishment is provided. In addition, regulators are engaging with parents, schools and other organizations to combat youth gambling addiction. The accepted norms are a significant increase in supervision compared to the previous restriction established in 2019 and allowing young users to play for an hour and a half a day.^[2][3]

Computer games provoke the development of life-threatening arrhythmia in children. Known about 4 deaths

In mid-October 2022, it became known that computer games can provoke the development of lethal arrhythmias in children. Patients with predisposing cardiovascular disease are most at risk. Read more here.

2021: Terrorists start using computer games to work out attacks

Terrorists began to use computer games to practice attacks. This was announced by the director of the FSBAlexander Bortnikov on June 23, 2021.

According to him, terrorists create clones of games with imitation of terrorist attacks, and also use popular network computer games to recruit young people in chat rooms.

In a special risk group, young people whose psychological processing is carried out in social networks and game chats of popular multiplayer computer games. Moreover, Islamist groups have already reached the level of creating their own clones of such games, which allow influencing the consciousness of potential supporters of terrorism and extremism not only through voice communication, but also by including the user in game situations of terrorist attacks, Bortnikov said (quoted by TASS Information Agency of Russia).

Terrorists use computer games to practice attacks

As the head of the FSB noted, an infrastructure "producing" future terrorists has developed in cyberspace. The terrorists conducting propaganda on the Internet work both with poorly protected segments of the population and with representatives of the middle class, whose financial situation has deteriorated in the last year, he said.

Propagandists of terrorism on the Internet "actively use" people's anxieties against the background of the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. Students and schoolchildren, in some cases left to themselves during the period of isolation and distance learning, increasingly fall under the influence of moderators of closed Internet communities promoting cults of violence against peers, suicide and other destructive forms of behavior, Bortnikov added.

This is not the first time Alexander Bortnikov has connected terrorists with games. In April 2021, he said that attackers began to use chats in video games to exchange messages.

It should be emphasized the use of communication tools implemented in network computer games that allow you to hide the true meaning of information exchange, "he said.[4]

Notes