Iran bans Pokémon Go over 'security concerns'

Pokémon Go players
(Image credit: Isaac Lawrence/Getty Images)

Iran has become the first country to ban popular augmented reality game Pokémon Go thanks to a decision handed down by — and this is a real government agency — the High Council of Virtual Spaces.

The council cited "security concerns," which some have speculated may have to do with the app's propensity for causing groups to congregate in public and leading people on exploring expeditions at all hours of the night.

Previously, the game was banned for sex offenders in New York and on-duty police officers in Indonesia. A prominent Islamic cleric from Saudi Arabia also declared his view that a 16-year-old fatwa on the card game version of Pokémon applies to the app. The fatwa was issued on the grounds that the game contains "forbidden images" and encourages gambling.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.