Think twice about giving Pokemon Go-ahead
The frenzied playing of augmented-reality game Pokemon Go abroad makes it increasingly clear that the authorities should think twice about allowing the game to be played in our region.
Reports of “Pokemon zombies” being injured or injuring or others due to poor situational awareness are alarming. Is it in our best interests to permit a game whose “targets” authorities cannot control?
Pokemon Go should be banned from certain locations for reasons of public safety and human decency. Schools, hospitals and public-transport interchanges should be off limits due to the risk posed by uncontrolled surges of human traffic.
Americans have already objected to the appearance of Pokemon Go characters at the Holocaust Memorial Museum and Arlington National Cemetery. The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland asked game developer Niantic to exclude the former Nazi death camp to safeguard the solemnity of the site.
At present Niantic assigns Pokemon Go targets. While one can request certain locations to be removed from play, the developer is not legally obliged to do so and cannot be held accountable for the consequences.
Since private individuals can purchase “Lures” to attract Pokemon Go players to a location, a person could harass someone else by placing a Lure near the victim’s home or workplace to attract disruptive crowds. And in this age of lone-wolf terrorism, an extremist could easily buy a “Lure” to draw players into a low-security zone before launching a mass-casualty attack.
Estella Young
Singapore
(From the Straits Times/ANN)
