Red Cross agrees to not charge video gamers with war crimes

December 9, 2011

The International Red Cross will not be prosecuting gamers for war crimes, but hopes to improve the video game view of humanitarian law. Image: Flickr / sarahvain / CC-BY
The International Red Cross will not be prosecuting gamers for war crimes but hopes to improve the video game view of humanitarian law. Image: Flickr / sarahvain / CC-BY

At the 31st International Conference of the Red Cross, a concern was raised that some video games could be violating International Humanitarian Law. Essentially, the Red Cross was discussing the possibility that millions of gamers could be guilty of war crimes.

Red Cross concerns

At their 31st annual conference, delegates of the International Red Cross discussed the implications of International Humanitarian Law on video games.

“Exactly how video games influence individuals is a hotly debated topic, but for the first time, Movement partners discussed our role and responsibility to take action against violations of IHL in video games,”

The Conference has the rights, under the United Nations, to enforce the Geneva convention, which the Conference claims is violated by many video games.

Concern about inspiration

The ICRC’s biggest concern about many of these video games is that the virtual war crimes could be inspiring actual war crimes. Many video game producers also produce war simulations that are used in training soldiers and special forces. In short, the use of video games to train troops or by individuals that may later go into war could be inspiring war crimes and acts of violence that violate human rights.

No prosecution for gamers

When the media began reporting that the ICRC was going to be prosecuting individuals for war crimes, the committee came out strongly against it. The statement released sets the record straight by saying “serious violations of the laws of war can only be committed in real-life situations.” The ICRC only wants to work with video game developers to bring video games more into line with the Geneva convention on human rights.

A link to aggression

According to the American Psychological Association, there is a link between violent video games and violent actions. Extended exposure to video game violence, including cartoonish or unrealistic violence, is correlated with increased aggression and violent actions. The correlation between longitudinal studies of video game violence and real-life violence is not strong, but it does exist.

Sources

News.com.au: http://www.news.com.au/technology/gaming/six-hundred-million-gamers-could-be-war-criminals-red-cross-says/story-e6frfrt9-1226216184190
Big Hollywood: http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/hollywoodland/2011/12/09/red-cross-meddles-in-video-games-claims-virtual-war-crimes-may-inspire-real-thing/
MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45613620/ns/technology_and_science-games/#.TuKMMXore_0
APA: http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2003/10/anderson.aspx

Post By bryanh (1,397 Posts)

Connect

Do you have a fantastic idea related to this article, but just don't have the money you need to start your own company or side-business? Get the loans you need from https://personalmoneynetwork.com to help get your new company underway, from the small loan professionals at PersonalMoneyNetwork.

PG&E to pay $70 million for pipeline tragedy

Pacific Gas and Electric was responsible for a pipeline explosion that killed eight in 2010. Image: juggernautco/Flickr/CC BY

Pacific Gas and Electric Co., a northern California utility, has agreed to pay $70 million to the California town of San Bruno for a pipeline explosion that killed eight people in 2010. Company says it’s remorseful The San Francisco-based power company’s president, Chris Johns, released a statement Monday, saying PG&E is sorry and eager to [...]

Judge stabbed and deputy shot in Washington courthouse

Grays Harbor County Courthouse. Image: MiK/Flickr/CC BY-SA

Following a standoff in a Washington state county courtroom Friday, a man reportedly escaped after shooting a sheriff’s deputy in the shoulder and stabbing a judge in the neck. The man is still at large. Treachery among the tree farms The incident occurred Friday afternoon in the western Washington town of Montesano, which bills itself [...]

Microraptor was one flashy little dinosaur

This Microraptor fossil is preserved at China's Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature. Image: Hello, I am Bruce/Flickr/CC BY-SA

A team of Chinese and American scientists have found that Microraptor, a small four winged dinosaur that went extinct about 130 million years ago, was likely black and almost certainly had glossy, iridescent feathers. Until now, the coloring of extinct creatures was a matter of pure speculation. That may no longer be the case. The [...]

Autocorrected message leads to school lockdown

The Gainesville, Ga. Homage to the Sun presides over anotehr day as a piotential tragedy turns out to be a mistake. Image" Olaf/Flickr/CC BY-SA

Adjacent schools in Georgia were locked down for two hours Wednesday after a text message reportedly warned of a “gunman” on campus. Later, it was learned that the message was the result of a smartphone autocorrect function, attempting to “fix” the misspelled slang word “gunna.” A series of mixups A series of mixups led to [...]

Recent Posts by

Coca-Cola has begun to use a different kind of caramel color to avoid a cancer label. (Photo Credit: Public Domain/Cane cane/Wikipedia)