Following Nepal’s banning of PUBG, it looks like Iraq is following suit, but with a wider net being cast. The country’s parliament has voted to ban popular online video games that have been deemed to contain violent elements which not surprisingly includes PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) and Fortnite.
According to Reuters, lawmakers have not only mandated the government to bar online access to these games but also related financial transactions. Like Nepal, Iraq’s reasoning also cites its negative impacts “on the health, culture and security of Iraqi society, including societal and moral threats to children and youth.”
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Citizens were quick to respond to the ban with negativity. That said, their beef with the ban is not so much directly in response to the games’ ban, but rather the government’s misplaced priorities. For context, the Iraqi parliament has only passed one piece of legislation since it first convened.
This makes Iraq the second country to ban PUBG in two weeks, following Nepal’s ban last week. During the weekend before that, British Prince Harry called for the ban of Fortnite, calling it “irresponsible” and “created to addict“.
(Source: Reuters.
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