Iraq's Ministry of Interior has decided to ban electronic games that encourage violence, the ministry announced on October 20, local media reported.

Mansour Ali, Assistant Undersecretary of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior for Police Affairs, said the ban and suspension of electronic games, including PUBG, Fortnite and Roblox, will begin within the next few months because they have become a threat to social security and a waste of children's and adolescents' money and time.

Baghdad has become increasingly critical of toy and games firms in recent years, with an ongoing campaign against a growing number of games and software, which it claims are destroying children's mental well-being.Earlier this year, the Baghdad government also banned the Labubu doll over fears for children's health. 

The ban on these games will be based on Law No 2 of 2013, which prohibited the import, production, handling and sale of games that encourage violence and fireworks that threaten security, according to Ali.

At the request of the Ministry of Trade, the Permanent National Committee for Arms Regulation in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, in coordination with the police and security agencies, has begun a wide campaign to confiscate violent games, Ali said.

Ali al-Abadi, head of the Iraq Centre for Human Rights, said, "Video games are not dangerous in themselves, but rather the lack of awareness and rational use," according to Baghdad Today, backing up the government position.

"A complete ban does not create an informed society; rather, it pushes users to circumvent the ban through other means. The real solution is education and smart oversight, not electronic scissors."

The state cannot shut down the internet but can regulate behaviour, according to al-Abadi, noting that European and Asian experiences have proven that addressing the phenomenon is achieved by restricting usage and directing content, not through blanket bans that reproduce the problem in other forms.

Another prominent voice on the matter, Baghdad-based psychologist Faleh Al-Quraishi spoke about the transformation of Iraqi children from "social beings to virtual beings."

"We are facing a generation suffering from what is called screen addiction, a psychological condition similar to chemical addiction," Al-Quraishi told the local media. He added, "The brain secretes pleasure hormones as if dealing with a drug, and the child enters a cycle of anxiety, tension and social isolation."

Al-Quraishi linked excessive use to the loss of educational skills, explaining that a child who spends six hours daily in front of a screen loses the ability to concentrate and their academic achievement gradually declines.