Censorship is a tricky issue. While many people assume that it happens only in distant, less-developed regions, it’s actually surprisingly prevalent. In fact, Australia, a major developed country uses censorship quite often. Australia, which has the second highest HDI (which stands for Human Development Index, a common measurement of development) in the world. Interestingly, the country most often makes the news for its video game censorship.

​Violent video games, a current hot topic, are banned from Australia. Some violence is permitted, but the most violent and crude games must either be toned down for special Australian editions or remain unreleased. While some may disagree with this practice for ethical reasons, an often overlooked issue is its implementation, which is extremely flawed.

​Most recently, unaltered copies of the new game Saints Row: Gat out of Hell (which had to be toned down to be allowed for release) were distributed. This essentially undermined the country’s entire policy with violence. With the game in people’s hands, the government was faced with a difficult decision: allow for this mistake to continue, or order a recall? Unfortunately for those who had already purchased the title, the latter was chosen, and those copies already released were expected to be returned.

​While this mishap displays that the system is difficult and can be accidentally forgotten, other games, like Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, display how the system can’t work in such an interconnected world. Unlike Saints Row, where the developers created an altered version for the country, Hotline Miami 2 developers decided to allow the game to go unreleased. When asked by an Australian fan of what to do about the situation, Jonatan Soderstrom (one of the creators of the game) said “Just pirate it.” In a world where the internet is so accessible and piracy is so easy, denying some games to be released will just strengthen the black market. Certainly, some people won’t go through the trouble, but those who are may have been willing to buy it legally.

​Censorship is tricky, and many ethical implications may arise from it. However, another possible issue with it may be flawed implementation