Counter Strike and GTA banned in Tajikistan due to their “immorality”

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan requires the owners of computer clubs to stop the distribution of Counter Strike (CS) and Grand Theft Auto (GTA) games. The countryʼs laws prohibit "violent" videos and games.

This is stated in the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan.

The agency urges not to play CS and GTA, because they seem to show scenes of violence and anti-social behavior, which is contrary to the cultural and moral values of Tajikistan.

Law enforcement officers claim that there is a connection between child and adolescent crime and gaming. So adults are urged to supervise their children from the influence of video games. Local computer clubs will be regularly raided to prevent the spread of prohibited content.

Counter-Strike is a series of first-person shooter video games. Championships are held with CS — for example, the Ukrainian eSportsmen NAVI won the Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 tournament. And Grand Theft Auto is a franchise of adventure video games in the action-adventure genre, where the player enters a virtual world in the role of a criminal, completes missions and moves along the plot.

• In 2018, the World Health Organization recognized gaming disorder as a diagnosis, and in the same year rehabilitation programs for gamers increased.
• In May 2024, a wave of lawsuits swept across the United States by women accusing the video game industry of profiteering and fostering mass addiction. In Turkey, on August 7 of the same year, the platform for online games Roblox was banned. The countryʼs authorities explained the move due to the impact of sexual content on the platform, which was perceived as child exploitation.

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Author: Anastasiia Mohylevets