Conversely the Australian experience where the government is involved is just stupid, and gives us random banned games like Bully because it triggers boomer-era moral panic.
Films and computer games classified M (Mature) are not recommended for children under the age of 15. They can have content such as violence and themes that requires a mature outlook.
Children under the age of 15 may legally access this content.
For an actual example of "Banned in Australia" (March 2022) see:
The Board considered that the depiction of drug use in the game, Rimworld, did include “illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives or rewards” and that therefore the Board was required to classify the game, Refused Classification. A game that has received an RC rating cannot be sold, hired, advertised, or legally imported into Australia.
A sci-fi colony sim driven by an intelligent AI storyteller. Generates stories by simulating psychology, ecology, gunplay, melee combat, climate, biomes, diplomacy, interpersonal relationships, art, medicine, trade, and more.
With the video game South Park, Stick of truth, the Aussie government doesn't approve of things like mini games where underage kids get ass-raped with dildos by aliens so they to replaced the scenes with images of Koalas.
Kind of the point? The system winds up being stupidly reactionary - at best it's the same outcome as the industry self-regulation. Tossing government enforcement on there though you wind up with the old "we're just going to ban it" as an outcome, which you always end up as because people are doing political grandstanding and that requires oneupmanship on their perceived rivals.
"The system" didn't actually react to community outrage and ban Bully though, did it?
It appears there are well laid out and publicised ground rules in advance (whether these are fair and reasonable and|or considered as such by how many is another discussion), and that those rules are applied on a case by case basis after review by a largely independant rotating review board who publish their decisions and reasoning.
