I failed to say anything when Hillary Clinton began campaigning against violent video games because I assumed that proposals to regulate them would be dismissed not only as grandstanding but as unconstitutional.

Matthew Yglesias's facetious condemnation of Clinton, however, reinforces my need to re-state what may be obvious:  Violent video games are free speech that generally ought not be regulated in a free society.

I would write more about this, but Judge Posner's opinion in AAMA v. Kendrick really says so better than I can:

"The House of the Dead" is not distinguished literature. Neither, perhaps, is "The Night of the Living Dead," George A. Romero's famous zombie movie that was doubtless the inspiration for "The House of the Dead." Some games, such as "Dungeons and Dragons," have achieved cult status; although it seems unlikely, some of these games, perhaps including some that are as violent as those in the record, will become cultural icons. We are in the world of kids' popular culture. But it is not lightly to be suppressed.

I hope this is obvious enough that this post is unnecessary.

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