Minecraft to be banned- Turkish ministry

**Kyriakos** · March 10, 2015, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by article on the fun ban

The Family and Social Policies Ministry has concluded the probe it launched into Minecraft, calling on the authorities to ban the popular videogame on the grounds that it encourages children to resort to violence, according to local media.

The report prepared by the ministry’s Children Services General Directorate was sent to its legal affairs department with an instruction for the legal process to ban the game to be started, according to daily Habertürk.

Minecraft is a videogame that allows the player to make designs with cubes in 2D or 3D. The game has several modes and in some of the modes, the player needs to survive in order to proceed.

“Although the game can be seen as encouraging creativity in children by letting them build houses, farmlands and bridges, mobs [hostile creatures] must be killed in order to protect these structures. In short, the game is based on violence,” Habertürk quoted the report as saying.

Some children may confuse the real world with the game world after playing Minecraft, leading them to believe that torturing animals would not give them pain, added the report, which was based on the game experience of a nine-year-old child.

It also suggested that the game could lead to “social isolation,” while exposing children to social risks in the multiplayer form, such as abuse and bullying.

The Family Ministry, which initially launched its probe to find out whether violence against women was encouraged in Minecraft, is expected to file a legal complaint soon. A court will then decide whether to impose a ban or not.

Minecraft, which was sold to Microsoft for $2.5 billion, also caused debate in the U.S. for containing elements of violence.

“There is not a single country that has banned Minecraft,” Habertürk quoted Önder Kaplan, the Chamber of Internet Cafes in Ankara, as saying in the report.

More than 67,000 websites have been blocked by the Turkish authorities, according to Engelli Web, a monitoring website.

A book on Minecraft is one of the best-selling children’s books in Turkey, with 80,000 copies selling out in seven months.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/min...&NewsCatID=341

While this is just regular Turkey, i am more alarmed that Minecraft was bought by Microsoft for 2.5 billion dollars...

Man, this is not right.

-Do you agree with this ban? Minecraft is a violent game. You cut down trees and alter the balances of this pristine world, to build your monuments to vanity, and yet you call Turkey a monster?

**Papay** · March 10, 2015, 11:38 AM

Uh? Minecraft is the last game i would thought that it provokes violence. Its like banning Tetris

**hellheaven1987** · March 10, 2015, 12:10 PM

The real reason why Turkey wants to ban it is because it teaches kids how to make forts and trench.

**Big War Bird** · March 10, 2015, 12:16 PM

Surely this is the dawning of a new age of moral enlightenment.

**Caligula's_Horse** · March 10, 2015, 12:22 PM

Just a typical reactionary response by overly conservative old men who aren't even entirely sure what new thing it is they're banning this time.

Not that it'll actually stop anyone who wants to play minecraft from doing so. The internet makes banning a piece of software (or anything that can be translated into a piece of software, like a book) practically impossible nowadays. In fact, a ban may just end up increasing the popularity of the banned item due to there being no such thing as bad publicity.

**~~removeduser_487563287433~~** · March 10, 2015, 12:33 PM

"Concludes"

"Local media reported"

**Kyriakos** · March 10, 2015, 12:46 PM

Originally Posted by Ferrets54

"Concludes"

"Local media reported"

Great deductive work there, Holmes.. Huriet happens to be one of the largest newspapers in Turkey. I suppose they report a real story of the turkish ministry having decided to ban the gruesome Minecraft. Yet again, well done F!

**Abdülmecid I** · March 10, 2015, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by Kyriakos

Great deductive work there, Holmes.. Huriet happens to be one of the largest newspapers in Turkey. I suppose they report a real story of the turkish ministry having decided to ban the gruesome Minecraft. Yet again, well done F!

He wasn't meaning Huriet, he was just quoting it. According to the article, their source for that weird story is "the local media", probably Haberturk or another less famous turkish channel or newspaper.

**Kyriakos** · March 10, 2015, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by The_Hibernian

He wasn't meaning Huriet, he was just quoting it. According to the article, their source for that weird story is "the local media", probably Haberturk or another less famous turkish channel or newspaper.

Yes, i mean it is difficult for a national news agency to examine the local news of its nation's capital, and of their ministry. I suppose they relied on some tiny tv channel for that.

Originally Posted by Akrotatos

Are we going to spend the next few weeks in the Mudpit with Greeks starting Turkey-bashing threads and vice versa? Odenat already has a troll thread up and running.

Wow. I only now saw his thread..

What can i say.

Although his is a clear trolling thread and title. Mine is just a news report on Minecraft. Minecraft is important, while trolling isn't ^^

**~~removeduser_487563287433~~** · March 10, 2015, 08:35 PM

Originally Posted by Kyriakos

Great deductive work there, Holmes.. Huriet happens to be one of the largest newspapers in Turkey. I suppose they report a real story of the turkish ministry having decided to ban the gruesome Minecraft. Yet again, well done F!

Sources are important. It's clear you made this thread not out of any interest for the topic, but because we have one of our Balkan tribal disputes flaring up on the Mudpit right now. Like herpes, Balkan tribal disputes never really go away. That makes it even more important to scrutinise what you're saying.

And maybe had you done that yourself you wouldn't be claiming Minecraft is to be banned in Turkey in your OP. Rather, you might be able to use a little nuace:

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/min.../1100-6425828/

Specifically - no final decision has been made, it needs to go through the courts, the recommendation from the ministry is not the same as a country's ruling. Sources are important, analysis is important.

**PointOfViewGun** · March 10, 2015, 01:17 PM

Minecraft is not to be banned and a Turkish ministry is not banning it. It can't anyways. The ministry is filing a complaint to a court to ban it. As idiotic as this is it hardly deserves a thread.

**Akrotatos** · March 10, 2015, 01:19 PM

Are we going to spend the next few weeks in the Mudpit with Greeks starting Turkey-bashing threads and vice versa? Odenat already has a troll thread up and running.

**~~sabaku_no_gaara~~** · March 10, 2015, 04:17 PM

Minecraft is a depraved game It's a perfect little world but there is a significant lack of woman, all villagers are men and they reproduce through trading and then falling in love with eachother

1 man shows the desire to mate and he goes to another man showing a desire to mate and then both create a child!

God, Yahweh and Allah are all against this homosexuality promoting game!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Phier** · March 10, 2015, 04:20 PM

I'd personally ban Minecraft for anyone over 18, but thats just me.

**Condottiere 40K** · March 10, 2015, 04:35 PM

1521
Seems to undermine Muslim minors' moral fibre.

**The Wandering Storyteller** · March 10, 2015, 05:31 PM

Ok this government is getting stupid every day. Now what, ban the Internet??

**Stavroforos** · March 10, 2015, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by Marshall Davout

Ok this government is getting stupid every day. Now what, ban the Internet??

Well, they did ban YouTube.

**conon394** · March 10, 2015, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by Marshall Davout

Ok this government is getting stupid every day. Now what, ban the Internet??

No band... You say what? give me a minute...

So it is the hectic end Girl Scout cookie season where I live and with two troops between my wife and I we are more than a little distracted has our are co leaders and the odd volunteer. Wait I have a point. Thus while we are trying to tally sales and cash and whatnot we allowed an off the cuff sleep-over for my son and a boy my son's age of one of the other troop leaders kids. 12 hours of 2 computers and two phones and and Ipad ranging from mindcraft to world or warcraft and U tube and frankly god knows what. Not one raised voice or argument etc, just two happy geeks.

But take School Band. My son has an acerbic and sarcastic wit and he is first trumpet in band. Paired with a boy who is very much on his way out of band - he learned a valuable life lesson - do not correct pointedly a bad player who is almost a foot taller than you and almost twice your weight unless you really want a broken hand.

So to take the Phier approach school band is clearly more worrisome than Mindcraft in my opinion - I owe Phier rep for that joke