New York Seeks to Ban Sex Offenders From ‘Pokemon Go’
New York lawmakers have pushed forward on enacting legislation that would prevent the state’s 3,000 sex offenders from playing Pokémon Go. Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Services announced Monday they would attempt to prohibit sex offenders from playing the hot mobile game as a condition of their release from state prison.
“Protecting New York’s children is priority number one and, as technology evolves, we must ensure these advances don’t become new avenues for dangerous predators to prey on new victims, Cuomo said Monday in Albany, CNN reports. State senator Jeffrey Klein added, “While children believe they are out to catch a Pokémon, what might really be lurking could be a predator instead of a Pikachu.”
Within the game, players can, for 99 cents, set up “lures” that could encourage other players to visit a location of their choosing. Lawmakers argued that sex offenders could use these “lures” to draw young gamers. The call to ban sex offenders from the game comes after two New York state senators independently discovered that there were 73 “Pokestops” within a half-block radius of 100 sex offenders’ houses.
Cuomo also called upon Pokémon Go creator John Hanke and Niantic Labs to help in their effort.