US VP Joe Biden has said while there’s no definitive proof violent games and media cause people to go on shooting rampages, the public shouldn’t be afraid of “facts” which may come from research on the matter.
Speaking during a live Google Hangout web broadcast, and looking like he needs to hire a make-up person who believes less powder is more, Biden said to let the facts “lead where they will, and let the research be done.”
“One of the things that the president and I believe very strongly, is let the facts work, especially in regards to the entertainment industry,” he said. “There’s no hard data as to whether or not these excessively violent video games in fact cause people to engage in behavior that is anti-social, including using guns.
“There was one study done from the American Academy of Pediatrics [that] said, if kids watch three to six hours of video games, and a lot of kids do that, it can lead to aggressive behavior. They didn’t make the next connection saying that it leads to violent behavior, but there’s [been] no studies done. So I recommended to the president that we do significant research.
“Let the CDC, let the National Institute of Health go out and look at the pathology that’s behind this, if there is a pathology related to gun violence.
“We shouldn’t be afraid of the facts.”
Biden met with several games, film, music and other entertainment executives last week along with various researchers and special interest groups to hear the industries take on whether violence in media contributes to gun violence in the US.
He said at the time he was not singling any industry out, but recommended research be conducted on the matter.
You can view a video clip of his Google Hangout chat over on Kotaku.
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