Joseph Lieberman, the former U.S. senator and vice presidential candidate whose crusade against violent video games in the early 1990s led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Review Board, has died at the age of 82.
A statement released by Lieberman's family (via Politico) said Lieberman's death was the result of “complications from a fall.”
Lieberman's political career began in 1970 with his election to the Connecticut State Senate, a seat he held until 1980. He also served as the state's attorney general from 1983 until 1989. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1988 as a Democrat.
In 1993, prompted by the rise in “realistic” violence and sexual content in games such as Mortal Kombat and Night Trap, Lieberman, along with fellow senator Herb Kohl, published a review of video game violence and sexual content. Held a public hearing on the impact on children. These hearings and his 1994 Video Game Rating Act proposal ultimately put pressure on the industry to establish his ESRB. The ESRB is a voluntary rating board that was created in September 1994 and is still in use today in a much expanded form.
Lieberman's crusade seems strange now, but the death toll in modern Mortal Kombat games certainly exceeds anything Lieberman could have imagined in 1992, and hardly raises an eyebrow today. But his influence remains. For example, when the backlash against randomized loot boxes began in the late 2010s and gamers began demanding regulation of them, as editor-in-chief Evan Lahti said, “We must be careful what we do.'' There was a legitimate concern that there was a need. I wish. “
“Any American who played games in the '90s remembers the days of pearl-clutching and pseudoscientific fear-mongering by senators like Joe Lieberman, who led calls to ban violent video games. ” he wrote in 2017. “Government regulation of loot boxes would probably take us a step in that direction and open the door for further legislation regarding game content.”
Clip of Lieberman speaking during a 1993 Congressional hearing about wanting to ban the development of violent video games.
Lieberman ended up doing other things, including cheering on the U.S. invasion of Iraq, undermining Barack Obama, and preventing a public health insurance option from being included in the Affordable Care Act. I moved on to that. But he has continued to speak out against violent video games over the years, participating in the annual “Video Game Report Card” presentation by the advocacy group National Media and Family Institute.
He was re-elected to the US Senate in 1994, 2000 and 2006, and served as Al Gore's vice presidential candidate, most notably in the 2000 US presidential election, but was ultimately defeated by George W. Bush/Dick. He lost to Cheney. He pursued his own presidential ambitions in 2004, but withdrew his candidacy for the Democratic nomination after losing badly in his early primaries.
