Pokémon GO has been banned from use on government property in Vietnam, effectively prohibiting players of the wildly popular augmented reality game from using it while on government and defense sites around the country. While much of the population around the world where the game has been launched have been open and inviting of the experience, in some cases encouraging people to play the game at their location, not everyone has been happy about the way things have turned out so far, with the Pentagon in the U.S. having banned use of the game back on August 12th, while some local businesses have done the same. Vietnam is also not the only country to ban use of the game, although Pokémon GO is still playable outside of the restricted locations, while the French village of Bressolles has banned the game entirely.
These types of incidents just go to show that people see a cause for banning the use of the game, either due to player negligence, bad behavior, or any other number of reasons. According to Vietnam’s Communist Ministry, citizens should not engage in playing the game near or inside the areas of offices of the Communist Party as the game is not licensed. Pokémon GO launched in Vietnam back on August 6th, and in that time since it was released the game has reportedly been installed by hundreds of thousands of users.
While there were no reasons given for the ban of the game in the restricted government areas, it was noted that some players are not only playing the game where they shouldn’t be, but also when they shouldn’t be. Much like players in the U.S., some players in Vietnam have reportedly been caught playing while driving, with Vietnam’s Nguyen Min Duc who is Captain of the Traffic Police in Hanoi, having stated that playing while driving in traffic does more harm than good, and also puts other people at risk. Pokémon GO is a game which immerses the player in the digital world, and this has caused many players to be distracted when they shouldn’t be. This has been a concern of many in various areas globally, and raises the question of whether or not other countries will place bans on use of the game in specific locations.