Poll Respondents Not Briefed When Asked to Give Opinion of Californian Videogame Law

The organisation behind the recent poll that claimed 72% of adults agree that violent videogames should have their sales legally restricted to children has confirmed to Nukezilla that respondents were not briefed with any details surrounding the case before they were asked to submit their opinion.

The poll was carried out Common Sense Media, a group which calls itself “the national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids and families thrive in a world of media and technology”. The CEO of the advoacy group, James Steyer, has been featured in the press several times with regards to videogames, here in ABC and here in FOX News.

The poll found that 72% of respondents replied “Strongly or “Somewhat” when asked: “Would you support or oppose a law that prohibits minors from purchasing video games that depict killing, maiming or sexually assaulting an image of a human being?”

The law is currently being examined by the US Supreme Court who will decide whether videogames should be considered “obscene” under Californian law, something which would restrict their sale in the same way pornography is. This would also mean that in California, videogames would be the only expressive medium, along with pornography, that do not come under the protection of the First Amendment – free speech.

Several other states have come in support of the law, which was introduced in 2005, a bill that was sponsored by Common Sense Media. The law was never fully enacted due to the legal debate surrounding it, now culminating in the Supreme Court examination which is due to makes its decision at least before June 2011, with arguments to be put forward to the judges on November 2nd 2010.

Videogame advoctes including the Entertainment Software Association have been arguing against the law, which they say could “lead to new bills and laws curtailing video game access in states across the country.” They recently submitted their arguments to the Supreme Court regarding the case.

Speaking to Game Politics on Monday, Hal Halpin head of the Entertainment Consumer Association said: “Given the source, I’m thoroughly unsurprised by the results of Common Sense Media’s poll. The bias is self-evident.”

Common Sense Media did not respond to the accusations of bias from Halpin in time for publication. We’ll update the story if they do.

In a press release for the poll results on the Common Sense Media website, CEO James Steyer said: “The results of this poll clearly show that not only do the effects of ultraviolent or sexually violent games weigh heavily on the minds of parents, but also that parents feel that the video game industry isn’t doing nearly enough to protect kids from accessing the most ultraviolent games.”