Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard is being sued by the families of a 2022 school shooting, claiming these games trained the shooter. While the news is tragic, putting the blame on video games is nothing new, as conservatives consistently try to regulate games their way.
According to The Associated Press, school shooter Salvador Ramos had been playing these CoD games and these families are blaming them for his behavior. The 18-year-old Ramos was responsible for the Uvalde school shooting in 2022 and these families feel his video game addiction “trained him” to shoot.
“There is a direct line between the conduct of these companies and the Uvalde shooting,” said Josh Koskoff, an attorney for the families. “This three-headed monster knowingly exposed him to the weapon, conditioned him to see it as a tool to solve his problems and trained him to use it.”
It’s not just Call of Duty being blamed, as Meta has also been named in the lawsuit, with various Facebook groups also responsible for Ramos’ behavior. Facebook has previously been called out for letting these kinds of alt-right groups roam around and exercise their “freedom of speech.” Meta has been involved in several lawsuits in the past, so it will be interesting to see how they react.
Video game lawsuits like this aren’t exactly new, as these have been popping up since the days of Midway’s Mortal Kombat games. Some of these lawsuits gained prominence when games like Grand Theft Auto showed an increase in violence and sexual themes. While most fans will agree that these lawsuits are overblown, tragedies like the Uvalde school shooting can make people think irrationally.
Recent studies have shown that games like Call of Duty can actually relieve fans of stress and aggression. That doesn’t mean it can’t inspire users to shoot up some people, but anyone with a decent amount of media literacy knows better than to do this. It’s a shame to see games blamed for tragedies like this and we won’t be surprised if more lawsuits happen in the future.
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