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[Kliegme]-[IT and Science]
Petition against GRAC draws thousands of Gamers to the Duma.
* Line of petitioners in front of the Duma
The Game Rating and Administration Committee has been blasted by Gamers and Non-Gamers alike for the past month. Initially for unjust process of registering and rating Games, which has escalated into a potential parliamentary inspection
The Controversy began from the reclassification of multiple INNOVA Games, a company specialising in Sub-Culture Games(OOC:Anime), to 18+. INNOVA explained that the GRAC has requested INNOVA to “either modify the game’s resources or raise the age rating.” This was met with severe opposition from the playerbase, due to the fact that the games were serviced as 15+ for over a year.
A Civil Petition on the Duma’s online platform, uploaded shortly after INNOVA Games announcement, quickly gained steam as over 40,000 people signed the petition.
The Petition, citing Article 21 of the Kliegmean Constitution, states “All citizens have freedom of speech, publication, assembly, and association. Like other countries abroad, Kliegme should abolish, the obligation to pre-examine games and completely hand over the rating of games to the private sector.” Which effectively requests the abolishment of the GRAC.
The Controversy escalated when a Public hearing at the State Duma revealed that the allegations which the GRAC used to reclassify INNOVA’s games were false.
Additionally, when Duma MPs requested documents and reports from the GRAC during the hearing, the GRAC Executives refused, citing the existence of “their own information department.”
In response to this, Social Democrat MP Yuuka Kitagawa’s office received signatures from citizens to request a public audit from the Board of Audit and Inspection in front of the Duma from noon to 6:30 p.m. on the “alleged corruption of rating system used by the GRAC”.
Many citizens, gamers and non-gamers alike, showed up to the Duma to sign the petitions. A citizen who was willing to interview with ITAK has stated;
“The rating of the game is not an issue. The issue is that the reclassification was done unjustly. I came here to sign the petition because they(GRAC) would continue to act like this in the future if we do nothing.”
Pyotr Krasnov
November 8th, 2022