Turkey’s Family Ministry regulators turn eyes to digital games

ANKARA

New legal regulations should be presented to protect digital games users from being “exploited and abused,” the Family and Social Policies Ministry has said, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Nov. 30.

“The current legal regulations should be revised so they include cyber-crimes, or an additional law regarding the fight against cyber-crimes should be introduced, due to the dynamic structure of the digital world,” a newly published report from the ministry stated, referring to the findings of an official workshop held last month.

It said digital games can lead to failures in language development, growth deficiency, time-wasting, emotional control difficulty, personality disorders, communication problems, and attention deficit disorder.

“Related institutions should pass deterrent legal regulations regarding content released online that affects children’s development negatively, while also addressing the issue of online sexual abuse,” the report stated.

“Online games increase the risk of exploitation of children. Sexual abuse through online games incidents amount to around 90 percent of all complaints made regarding the issue. Both regarding game content and game players, child abuse via digital games is accepted as a crime worldwide,” it added.

The report also claimed that online games are often “not in line with Turkish family structure” due to their foreign origin, stating that games including local fictional characters should be developed “in harmony with Turkish culture and values.”

Meanwhile, the ministry stated that a national platform of experts should be established “where families can inform themselves about all digital games played by their children as well as the games’ content.”