No more ‘Fortnite’ or ‘PUBG’ for Iraqis if proposed game ban becomes law

Iraq is considering blocking online multiplayer computer games because of fears that obsession with the games may increase violence and crime and lead to a decline in societal values.

The cultural parliamentary committee on Saturday submitted a draft law that seeks to ban electronic games, in particular PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) and the Blue Whale phenomenon that was reported to be an online “suicide game”.

“The committee is concerned about the obsession over these electronic games that ignite violence among children and youth,” the head of the committee, Sameaa Gullab, said in Baghdad.

“Its influence has spread rapidly in Iraqi society.”

The request was submitted based on Article 59 of the constitution, she said.

Iraq’s 2005 constitution enshrines freedom of press and publication unless they “violate public order or morality”.

“We are proposing to parliament to block and ban all games that threaten social security, morality, education and all segments of Iraqi society,” Ms Gullab said.

Iraqi media reported incidents of suicide and divorce related to the games during the past year.

Local media coverage of the PUBG craze has reported nearly 40,000 divorces worldwide and more than 20 cases in Iraq.

“This issue requires immediate action by the authorities to ban this negative phenomenon through passing this draft legislation,” Ms Gullab said.

The draft law will now be revised by parliamentary speaker Mohammed Al Halbousi.

Iraq is facing a “youth bulge”, a demographic term applied to countries where the vast majority of the population is young, according to the United Nations Population Fund.

Iraq’s young people make up about 60 per cent of the country’s nearly 40 million population, and 17 per cent of men and 27 per cent of women are unemployed, according to World Bank figures.

PUBG has more than 400 million players across the world.

The game allegedly led an Iraqi teenager, 17, to commit suicide in January, Iraq’s Independent Human Rights Commission said.

The boy’s family said his death was a “wake-up call for the dangers that Iraqi children are being exposed to”.

The most recent development comes after Iraqi populist cleric, Moqtada Al Sadr, called for tighter government control to combat addiction to PUBG.

“It saddens me to see our youth are brainwashed by PUBG,” Mr Al Sadr said on Twitter. “Iraq’s society is deteriorating because its youth are occupied by the fighting in PUBG’s battlefields.”

Numerous fatwas against the game have been issued across the county. But teenagers in Baghdad consider the game as a way to keep them indoors and away from violence outside.

“I have been playing PUBG for some time now – I like it because it keeps me at home and away from trouble outside,” Hassan Ahmed Ali, 21, told The National.

Mr Ali said that parliament needed to consider a substitute for Iraqi youth to “keep us occupied”.

PUBG is banned in Nepal and in the state of Gujarat in India because of its association with violence.

Teenagers say games like ‘PUBG’ keep them indoors and away from the violence in the outside world