The Meeting Is Part of an “Ongoing Process”
President Trump plans to have a meeting with videogame industry executives next week, the White House Press Secretary announced on Thursday.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters at a press conference that Trump plans to meet with “members of the videogame industry” in order to discuss what they can do about gun violence.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders says Trump will be meeting with the video game industry after talks about school safety and gun control pic.twitter.com/VzQeiygvk0
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) March 1, 2018
“This is going to be an ongoing process and something that we don’t expect to happen overnight but something that we’re going to continue being engaged in and continue to look for the best ways possible to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to protect schools across the country,” Sanders said.
In the aftermath of a mass shooting that occurred at a Florida high school last month, Trump has pointed to a variety of reasons as to why that shooting and other instances of gun violence occur. One of those factors, Trump says, is the violence in videogames.
“I’m hearing more and more people saying that the level of violence on videogames is really shaping young people’s thoughts,” Trump said in February. Trump also brought up violent films: “And then you go the further step and that’s the movies. You see these movies, they’re so violent and yet a kid is able to see the movie if sex isn’t involved…but killing is involved and maybe they have to put a rating system for that.”
Trump has also railed against violent videogames in regard to other mass shootings. For example, in the aftermath of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, he tweeted: “Video game violence & glorification must be stopped-it is creating monsters!”
Update (7:04 PM): The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), a US trade association for the games industry, said in an email statement to Kotaku that they have not been invited to Trump’s planned meeting next week.
“ESA and our member companies have not received an invitation to meet with President Trump,” the email statement read. The ESA also defended video games by pointing out that the the U.S. plays the same video games as other countries yet gun violence in America is “exponentially higher” when compared to other countries.
“Numerous authorities have examined the scientific record and found there is no link between media content and real-life violence,” the statement argued.
What do you think, gamers? Do you think that this meeting with gaming industry executives next week will be productive or merely a waste of time? Let us know your thoughts!