Video Game Censorship in India

The I&B ministry has decided to censor all graphic computer games. This basically means that computer games with too much blood and gore will not be made available for children. Same goes for those games which involve ‘prizes’ like virtual sex with a girl if you clear a certain level.

Parents have been voicing their concerns against such computer games for a long time now. We decided it’s high time we introduce censorship in computer and video games, says a source in the I&B ministry.

The draft bill being considered by the ministry also proposes that the Censor Board do this job and certify an age-limit for kids accessing particular video games. The Censor Board might also reserve the right to reject a video game if it is ‘unsuitable’ for an Indian audience.

This is true that there is a proposal that the Censor Board should start censoring all video games - and I agree with proposal totally, says Sharmila Tagore, the chairperson of the Censor Board: We have already submitted our proposal to the ministry and the draft is being considered by them.

According to the proposal, the Censor board will mark the video games according to age groups and would clearly mention the age for which it is suitable. It will also be made mandatory for the manufacturer to carry the certificate on the cover of the game just as it is done on DVD covers.

Alarmed with the violent content of video games and the effect they have on children, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has decided to censor video games.

As per the proposal, the government will slot video games in terms of the age groups of kids they are suitable for, this classification is to be prominently displayed on the game pack.

The Ministry is considering an amendment in the Cinematograph Act, 1952, to give the Censor Board mandatory powers to check video games entering the Indian market.

Censor Board chief Sharmila Tagore had recently submitted a proposal to the ministry seeking powers to ask video games manufacturers to delete objectionable portions in the games. If required, the board should also be able to ban a particular video game, the way it can ban a movie, she wrote.