Comment on Films and video games have age classifications. Should books?

• Deceptichum@quokk.au ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  If they stop you accessing something, they are censorship.

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  • Nath@aussie.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    If there’s a policy that says ‘content of X classification is not allowed to be distributed to the public’, then you are against that policy. That’s not the same thing as classification.

    Classification is not something that mattered much to me until I had kids. But now that I do, it is vital. I personally vet individual games for the kids. For example I allow Zelda, Minecraft, Prince of Persia, Hogwarts Legacy but don’t allow Witcher, Assassins Creed or Red Dead Redemption, yet.

    Do I think these games should be censored? Not at all. But, the classification informs parents whether they should be letting their 10-year-olds access that sort of material.

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    • Deceptichum@quokk.au ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      In that case, I'd argue that you should be informing yourself about the product and making your own opinion not relying on some governmental agency. This certainly isn't anything that needs to be handled at a political level.

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      • Nath@aussie.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        And I do inform myself on a case by case basis. My starting point is the classification of the media (I automatically permit all games/shows/movies that are PG without the kid needing to come to me for consent). The movie Robocop is a great example here. That movie is about a cool cyborg blowing away bad guys, it’s not that bad in your memory having seen it decades ago. You notice that it has an R rating, and you think harder about why that might be. Then you remember the early scene of the human cop’s death and go ‘Yeah fair enough’.

        Now, I can reach this same point by re-watching the movie. But that takes a couple of hours. And the kid is asking about watching the movie now.

        But that’s all classification. I see no issue with classification. I’m not really sure why you do other than there are policies that lead to censorship based on classification. If we’re talking about censorship, we’re talking about things that are illegal. I don’t want to go all straw-man, but there are things that we pretty-much all agree are not ok (eg child exploitation/abuse, Rape/snuff, revenge porn). Removing all censorship makes everything legal. I don’t think you’re wanting that any more than I do. But if we agree that some content needs to be illegal, then all you’re arguing about is what that line is.

        But none of that was my point. My point was that classification is not the same thing as censorship.

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