Growing up in an online world’s impact on gaming

Here is our published response to the Government’s ‘Growing up in the Online World’ consultation. As we explain in this response many of the proposed bans and restrictions under consultation could have a negative impact on game preservation, people who play games privacy, and the ability of young people to enjoy online video gaming. In addition to this published response, we have also submitted a response via the forms and survey on the Government’s own website. We found this survey to be quite narrow in its questions and therefore a missed opportunity to fully explore the potential games have to improve the mental health of young people.

Sadly It seems from reading media reports that minds are made up in Government before this consultation even closed. There are reports of Starmer, Rayner and Wes Streeting all backing bans. It remains to be seen whether online games are treated the same way as social media. In terms of the legal position, our understanding of the Children and School’s Wellbeing Act is that the Government now has the Henry VIII powers to create bans via secondary regulation. This ban’s and age restrictions could impact online games, as many would classify as internet services. We hope however that Government will distinguish between games and social media when drawing up regulations.

In the meantime we would encourage people also to sign our 38 Degrees Petition on this issue.