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Switzerland Pursues Violent Games Ban

Posted by timothy on from the brutal-crackdown-on-violence dept.

BanjoTed writes "We hear lots about the issues facing violent games in Australia, but the anti-games bandwagon is gathering pace closer to home — in Switzerland, to be precise. The Swiss government is gearing up to consider a total ban on mature games in the country."

3 of 276 comments (clear)

  1. Part of a general pattern by JoshuaZ · · Score: 5, Informative

    Switzerland has very little regard for free speech. Very little regard for things that are unpopular or disliked and has an aging, reactionary voter base. Frankly, I got far more worked up over the ban on minarets that they enacted last year. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/world/europe/30swiss.html That was a much more serious violation of basic rights. This? This is small potatoes.

    1. Re:Part of a general pattern by golden+age+villain · · Score: 5, Informative

      Switzerland has very little regard for free speech. Very little regard for things that are unpopular or disliked and has an aging, reactionary voter base.

      Aaaaah Switzerland, this famous dictatorship... And you are supporting these claims how? Because I happen to live in that country but it doesn't seem to be the country you are describing. Free speech? Very little regard for things that are unpopular or disliked? What the hell are you talking about exactly? Do you have examples that make Switzerland stand out of the crowd of European countries? Agreed, the ban on minarets is not exactly the vote we can be most proud of. I would just like to point to the fact that Switzerland is no different from other European countries in that regard as was demonstrated by numerous polls in Europe following this particularly infamous vote. Also on votes asking whether or not to put a cap on immigration, the Swiss people have constantly voted no (there was several votes on this question since the 70s) and we have also accepted to embrace bilateral agreements with the EU and extend those agreements to the new EU members from Eastern Europe so I don't really see more reactionary voters than in any other western country. The only difference is probably that pretty much everything goes into a public vote and is hence very visible.

  2. on positive side by jarkus4 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Switzerland has more direct democracy than most countries. Even if the legislation passes parliament, if someone gathers 50k signatures against some law (in 100 days), he can cause national vote on this matter. In this vote all citizens decide whether the law should stay or be rejected. So to get rid of it they just need to convince normal people (and not politicians) that this is a bad idea.