Abstract
The online gaming industry, a booming industry and prominent means of entertainment today, operates without any censor on the content of the games. In India, the boom has been unparalleled and there exists no regulation on online gaming censorship. The content of the games is not appropriate for all the sections of players and there are adverse effects of exposure to the violent and sexualized content as proven by different studies. This necessitates the censorship of online games before the games are permitted to enter the public domain. The enactment of a legislation which would deal with the censorship of the content of online games might aid in mitigating the adverse effects associated with the exposure to uncensored and inappropriate content.
INTRODUCTION
The growth of the online gaming industry worldwide, and not merely in India, has been a boom. Some of the commonly accepted factors behind the mushrooming of this industry are the increasing number of smart phones/tablets/PCs, low-cost internet data, high youth population, development of diversity in the online games, etc. In India the online gaming industry has expanded with an unparalleled rate and India has taken a spot in the top five mobile gaming markets in the world. 1 According to the findings of the recent FICCI-EY media and entertainment report 2022 2 on “tuning into consumer,” “the online gaming segment is expected to reach Rs 153 billion by 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% to become the fourth largest segment of the Indian M&E sector.”
The online gaming segment grew 28% in 2021 to reach Rs 101 billion. The number of online gamers grew at the rate of 8% from 360 million in 2020 to 390 million. As per Sequoia and Boston Consulting Group's (BCG) report, India's mobile gaming sector will grow from $1.5 billion in revenue in 2020 to $5 billion by 2025. 3 The “India Gaming Report 2021 by Lumikai and Redseer” shows that “India has emerged as the fastest growing gaming market in the world with growth in new paying users(NPU).” 4 The transaction-based gaming revenue increased by 26% in India and the number of paying players increased by 17%, from 80 million in 2020 to 95 million in 2021, as per EY FICCI's report. 5
CONTENT OF ONLINE GAMES
The exponential growth in the online gaming industry with an expanded user base necessitates calling our attention to the content of these games. The online games today are based on varied themes and incorporate diverse ideas which embrace almost everything. The downside of embracing every type of theme and idea is that some games are very violent in nature and some depict highly sexualized content. But how and why do the games depict unwarranted content are the questions that need to be answered. The reason is that the online games today are uncensored, there is no regulation which sensors the content of them. Resultantly, every sort of content which may have a corroding effect on the minds of the players, and particularly the young players, continues to be in the market.
What is more pertinent to note here is that the audio and visual effects have been proved to have a long lasting and deep impact on the minds of the viewers as the online games incorporate both audio and visual effects. The Government has been regulating the audio-visual content in the form of movies and films, 6 documentaries, etc., through censorship, 7 however, there is no censorship on the online games.
VIOLENCE
Imagine a seven-year-old or eight-year-old child playing a game and enjoying the violence that is involved in it, what would be the impact of such content on the child? From Death Race, a game dating back to 1976, to Grand Theft Auto 6, a game that has been launched recently, it is revealed that games which involve violence have been existent and popular since the very advent of video games. This also shows that the games have been operating uncensored since then. In Death Race the player was to drive a car past a series of obstacles, but the game's designers rewarded players for running over and murdering pedestrians. 8 A research study was carried out solely to examine the impact of these violent video games on the behavior of players with the focus on Grand Theft Auto. 9
Moreover, the games these days are interactive in nature. The medium of online interactive games has the potential to be more harmful than watching violent movies or television shows, which are known to have a significant impact on aggression and violence. The active learning environment of the video games is one of the main concerns for the harmful effects. 10
A plethora of research has already been done which shows that playing violent video games significantly affects aggressive behavior, mood, cognition, and empathy, and the studies involving more than 130,000 people cannot be disregarded. The impacts have frequently been cited as noteworthy discoveries across a range of age groups and cultural contexts. 11
The results of one study demonstrated a clear relationship between adolescent aggression and exposure to violent video games. Normative beliefs about aggression mediate this relationship between exposure to violent video games and adolescent aggression, with the family environment controlling the first stage of the mediation process. 12
According to two studies published in the American Psychological Association's (APA) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, playing violent video games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, or Mortal Kombat can make a person more aggressive both in controlled environments and in real life. 13
The players develop an aggressive attitude, they expect that even others would act aggressively, they accept and have an approving attitude towards the use of violence and believe that an effective and appropriate solution can be reached through violence. 14
According to a study by Jeanne Funk (PhD), children enjoyed playing violent and stressful video games. Only 2% of the pupils in the seventh and eighth grade favored educational games; 29% of them selected sports games with violent visuals. The realism of sadistic and violent content in video games has increased because of technological advancements. 15
The online games have been a platform where during interaction with the fellow players, filthy language and commentary has been used very often. Many of such instances have shown interactions which are derogatory to the dignity of women. Instances have been noticed where players create PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) gaming streams on YouTube with vulgar commentary and language directed at female viewers as well as young viewers. 16
SEXUALIZED CONTENT
Not only violent content, but also uncensored sexual content in games is on the rise. Even though video games provide players with a completely different experience than traditional media, not much research has been done to study the effect of games on the players. Today, the games offer the players with the option to personalize the characters of the game, which makes the players connect with the character and get even more engrossed in the game. This in turn makes the effect of the games on the players stronger than watching any video or movie. 17
Modern video games frequently feature sexualized images of women, even when the game majorly involves fighting, like Street Fighter, or games which are action adventures like Bayonetta. 18 There are different categories of games, and some games are purely sexual in nature, and the other games which are not sexual in nature use sexualized images of women. In a study of the top 20 selling games in the U.S., it was found that “only 14% of all characters were female. Of these, 41% appeared in sexually revealing clothing, and 43% were depicted partially or fully nude, compared to 11% and 4% of the male characters, respectively. Females were also more likely than males to be shown with unrealistic body proportions (25% vs. 2%). 19 ” A consistent pattern has been shown of the sexualization of women characters in other studies. 20
If a game has female characters, then the female characters are frequently sexualized. For instance, they appear in revealing apparel, with a lot of exposed skin, huge breasts, and small waists. 21 The highly sexualized avatar is picked by the players when given the option of choosing between a subtly and overtly sexualized avatar. 22
The foremost concern with the games involving sexual content and exploitation is that such games promote the attitude of acceptance and promotion of any form of sexual exploitation for fun. The minds of children are especiallymore impressionable as compared to adults in response to what they experience. 23 Early exposure to sexual themes in video games can increase the chance of both boys and girls initiating sexual relations at an early age. 24
A study showed that playing games with female characters who are sexualized tends to make the participants more inclined to sexually harass women. The sexualization of female characters which is rampant in almost all the popular games has indicated provocation of sexual harassment of women. 25
In two experiments, males took part in first-person shooter games in which the sexualization of the characters and the sex of opponent players was experimentally altered. The findings showed that playing video games enhanced hostile sexism when the opponent players were portrayed as sexualized females rather than males or non-sexualized females. The players also felt more immersed in the virtual environment. 26
GAMING DISORDER
The World Health Organization (WHO) has described video game addiction as one of the official mental health disorders by adding “gaming disorder” to “International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems” or “ICD-11” which has been effective from January 2022. ICD organizes health data on a global scale and has application worldwide covering all the health conditions. WHO described “gaming disorder” in ICD-11 as a “pattern of gaming behavior (“digital-gaming” or “video-gaming”) characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.” 27
According to a study published in the Indian Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health 2020, about 3.5% of Indian adolescents suffer from Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). The rate is 0.5% higher than the global average. 28 On a global scale, the gaming disorder was found at 3.05% according to a 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis which brings the figures of the people suffering from gaming disorder around 60 million people or even more. 29
Shamsi Akbar, former research officer of the Department of Geriatric Mental Health, King George's Medical University, revealed, “According to a WHO report, addiction to online games is equal to substances like cocaine, drugs and gambling. This is a kind of temporary psychotic stage in which the gamer forgets about the conscience and just follows the instructions. 30
Under such circumstances, if the people are addicted to playing games with content that has a detrimental effect on the player in ways manifold, then the issue becomes even more grave.
CENSORSHIP
Censorship is not a novel concept and has been prevalent since the commencement of the Constitution of India with the object to preserve harmony, peace, and social order. Censorship is proclaimed to be a technique that is used to keep a fair check on what enters the public domain. The welfare of the society and maintenance of order is the primary objective behind censorship. All that must enter public domain, like any kind of art, dance, literature, written work, documentary, or oral works, movies, television content, even social media platforms, OTT, reports, debates, magazines, newspapers, and theatre, are censored by different legislations. 31
The interactive aspect of the online games along with the two-fold audio-visual effect etch a deep impression on the players which makes them even more potent and impactful than films and videos. 32 This necessitates the censorship on online games before these are introduced in the public domain.
The legislation, “The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition Act), 1986” penalizes the indecent representation of women. The indecent representation is defined as the illustration of a female in any way that would be vulgar, outrageous, or demeaning to women, or that would be likely to corrupt, or harm the public virtue or morals. 33 The publication of sexual content on social media is also prohibited and penalized. 34 Likewise, publication of pamphlets, books, etc., which is “lascivious or appeals to the prurient interests” is also prohibited under the Indian Penal Code, 1860. 35
As a plausible solution to the issue of uncensored sexual content of online games, the same can be brought under the purview of the existing legislations discussed hereabove. However, with the legislations being old, the complexities of the online games cannot be addressed by them. Moreover, the violence depicted in the games does not fall under the ambit of any of the existing legislations.
The Cinematograph Act of 1952 36 has established the Central Board of Film Certification 37 (CBFC) as a statutory authority under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting 38 to control the public screening of motion pictures. Only movies that have received Central Board of Film Certification are allowed to be publicly screened in India. 39 A similar statutory body can be constituted for the censoring of online games before they are introduced in the public domain, and as an interim measure the online games can be brought under the purview of the CBFC.
In the recent past, the government with the objective to fill the legislative gap and govern the social media platforms, digital media platforms, and OTT platforms published the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Regulations, 2021. 40 However, the online games were still not brought under the purview of those Regulations.
A body solely constituted for the purpose of screening the online games before their introduction to the public domain is the need of the hour. It is imperative that a separate body is entrusted with the task as there are complexities in the case of online games which need to be considered.
Certification of the online games needs to be in place where each game would be certified by the censor authority. The certification would specify which games are suitable to which age group, and necessary age verification measures can be in place to restrict the children from playing games unsuitable to them. There has been an absence of effective check on the age of the players. The game Mortal Kombat drew attention due to its escalating violence and availability in video arcades with no age restrictions right from the creation of the game. 41
The censor authority can publish the list of games which are certified along with the category accredited to them and the publication of the list in the public domain may act as an aid to the parenting authority. The entire censorship can be in operation on similar lines as the censorship for films take place by the CBFC.
The re-examination of a game can be held for certification whenever the game upgrades or introduces a new series to the previous one. The game, after having obtained the certificate, would then be allowed to operate only in the form which has been approved by the authority. No changes in any form in the game would be permitted unless examined and permitted by the authority.
Censorship would facilitate in mitigating the adverse effect of the inappropriate content of the games. In a report by Media Insights and Decisions in Action (MIDiA), the “games consumption model” in 2022 shows a player on average spends around 7.6 hours playing games in a week. 42 In 2019, as per a report, “The State of Online Gaming” from Limelight Networks, the average time spent on playing games was 7 hours 7 minutes. 43 The report also showed that the time spent increased per week. The reports showed that the time spent on playing video/online games has been on an increase which raises red flags as these games have uncensored content. Another report, “The State of Online Gaming 2021” published by Limelight Networks, documents a boom in gaming as seen by both an increase in hours-long binge-gaming sessions and a skyrocketing popularity for phone-based casual games. 44
These trends show that there will be no abatement in the players engaging in playing online Games and various research and studies as discussed in this work indicate that the use of online games will further increase manifold. This necessitates the requisite statutory provisions to come into place which would regulate the censorship of the content of these games.