Minecraft Ban Reports Investigated By Microsoft
Minecraft bans are investigated by Microsoft By Kevin Rawlinson BBC News
11 March 2015
Microsoft, Minecraft's owner, is investigating reports that the Turkish government is planning to ban the game. The BBC knows.
A Turkish Family and Social Policies Ministry study concluded that the game encouraged violence, according to local media.
There were conflicting reports regarding what actions the government was planning to take in response.
Some speculated that it would ask an appeals court to ban on the game. Others claimed it would demand Microsoft to make changes.
According to the Haberturk newspaper The ministry's report stated: "Although the game can be viewed as encouraging children's creativity by letting them build houses bridges, farmlands and farmlands mobs of hostile creatures must be killed in order to protect these structures. In essence, the game is built on violence."
'Social isolation'
The report also said that children may confuse Minecraft with reality and be misled into believing that torturing animals will not cause pain, according to the newspaper.
The report added that it was based on the experience of a nine-year-old and suggested that playing Minecraft could lead to "social isolation".
Haberturk said that the department of legal affairs at the ministry had been instructed to take the first steps towards banning Minecraft.
According to Fatih Oke (a spokesperson for the Turkish Embassy in Washington DC), a ban is "out of the possibility".
Mr. Oke told Christian Science Monitor: "There will be no ban.
"The game isn't being banned and will not be banned.
The Family and Social Policy Ministry does not have that kind of authority to ban any product.
"I believe that this is what was reported in the Turkish media, however, it is incorrect.
"The ministry is able to only deal with complaints.
"In this case, I was told that there were numerous complaints from parents regarding the influence of Minecraft on children.
"The function of this ministry is to raise awareness."
The government wouldn't be able to ban the game unilaterally. the sport, but it would have to convince a court to make the decision.
Although Turkey is not a country known for banning gaming on computers, there have been some websites that have been shut off the internet in recent years.
In the past year access to both Twitter and YouTube was temporarily blocked as well as Facebook was forced to block some pages said to be insulting the Prophet Muhammad in January this year.
'Creative freedom'
A spokesman for Mojang which produces Minecraft under the Microsoft umbrella, after the latter bought the game for $2.5bn (PS1.68bn) in September 2014, declined to respond directly to the reports.
He also said that "Minecraft is enjoyed in a variety of ways by a variety of players."
"Many appreciate the freedom to be creative that's presented by Minecraft and its tools, some are more interested by the opportunity to explore the world without limits and to embark on thrilling adventures with their friends.
"We encourage players to collaborate to achieve success regardless of whether they're building, exploring or adventuring.
"The world of Minecraft can be a dangerous area: it's home to terrifying, genderless monsters that come out at the dark of night.
"It might be necessary to defend yourself against them to survive.
"If people find this level of fantasy conflict disturbing, we would encourage them to play in Creative Mode, or to enable the Peaceful setting.
"Both of these options will stop monsters from appearing all over the world."
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