The German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) has announced that he wants to take a closer look at the gamer scene. One must consider what is still a video game and what is covert planning for an attack.
This is what Seehofer says: In a 30-second excerpt from an interview, Seehofer states:
- that many offenders or potential offenders come from the gamer scene
- they model themselves on “simulations”
- one must see whether video games are still simulations or covert plans for an attack
- and “we” need to pay more attention to the “gamer scene”
Where does Seehofer say this? The Twitter channel of “Bericht aus Berlin” has published a 29-second clip in which Horst Seehofer speaks. The clip apparently belongs to an interview that will be broadcast today, Sunday, at 6:30 PM.
Bericht aus Berlin is a weekly television magazine about federal politics on ARD. This Sunday, the editorial team wants to address the terror attack in Halle and has interviewed the Federal Interior Minister for this purpose.
One of the themes of the show will be “Right-wing extremism on the internet and how effectively the security authorities can respond to it.”
Video games as “covert planning for an attack”
What is the background? The perpetrator of the terror attack in Halle is apparently considered “video game”-affine. He has live streamed his attack on the streaming platform Twitch.
In this context, Twitch, originally a gamer platform, has come into the focus of the German public.
Finally, someone is saying it!!!
— Hänno (@HandIOfIBlood) October 12, 2019
What are the reactions? The clip is already causing quite a stir on Twitter – at least in relation to other tweets from “Bericht aus Berlin.”
One of the most well-known German YouTubers, Hand of Blood, reacts ironically and posts, “Finally, someone is saying it.”
The Association of the German games industry, game, issued a statement that MeinMMO has, saying:
“Putting the games community under general suspicion shows mainly ignorance and helplessness and distracts from the real social and political causes of such acts. Games have long become an integral part of the daily lives of millions of Germans; almost every second person here plays.
It should be clear to everyone: Just as little as one can hold movies or books responsible for hate and violence, games and their community are not the cause of it. Instead, we have a frightening problem with right-wing extremism in Germany.
The Federal Interior Minister should not helplessly blame a medium and its community, but should actively address the social problems of radicalization and increasing xenophobia that lead to such terrible acts as in Halle.”
Felix Falk, Managing Director of game
The SPD politician Tiemo Wölken (via twitter) also criticizes Seehofer’s remarks. He states that what Seehofer says is nonsense and that he knows it. One must admit that the security authorities have not sufficiently addressed right-wing extremism.
Many seem to share this view. Under the tweet from Bericht aus Berlin, some users say that this is an attempt to divert the debate towards gamers to distract from the actual problems.
In the USA, a series of terrorist attacks in August 2019 triggered a similar discussion as is apparently beginning in Germany.
In the USA, gamers accused politicians of steering the debate towards gamers to avoid addressing the actual problems in the USA, such as the fact that so many guns are in circulation.
