The Philippine authorities have temporarily blocked an online gaming app after a preliminary investigation found it was avidly played by a school-shooting suspect.
Three students were killed and 20 wounded in the shooting at San Jose National High School in central Tacloban city, southeast of Manila, on Monday. A pair of teenagers, aged 14 and 15, have been arrested over the attack.
Police later filed a murder case against the 15-year-old but deemed the 14-year-old too young to be charged under the country’s criminal laws.
Blocking the game, called Gorebox, would allow authorities to determine “whether the platform played any role in the actions of the suspects”, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center said.
The ban came after police spokesperson Allan Rae Co said it appeared the 14-year-old suspect was “heavily influenced” by online content, frequently posting violent imagery on the internet.
According to the game’s Google Play listing, a Gorebox player can “obliterate anything they desire" and "engage in brutal combat with an extensive arsenal of weapons and explosives”.
The game, which can be played solo or with multiple fellow players, carries an international age rating of 18 due to the extreme violence and explicit and unrestrictive gameplay.
“We cannot ignore possible online influences that may have contributed to this tragic incident,” Aboy Paraiso of the cybercrime centre said, without specifying how long the game would remain blocked.
There is no scientific evidence of a direct link between playing video games online and engaging in violent behaviour offline.
Gorebox was launched in 2023 and marketed as “a physics-driven sandbox game where creativity meets unrestrained destruction”, the centre said.
Mr Paraiso did not say what action might be taken if a government assessment concluded the app promoted violence.
“Beyond this temporary ban, we are reinforcing our monitoring efforts to identify online spaces that may pose risks to young users and to ensure that appropriate interventions are made immediately,” Mr Paraiso said. “Our priority is the safety and well-being of Filipino children exposed to the internet."
Crimes involving the use of guns are prevalent in the Philippines, partly due to the proliferation of unlicensed firearms, but school shootings are relatively rare and it is uncommon for minors to be primary suspects in such cases.
In the wake of the shooting, considered to be one of the worst in the country in recent years, congressman Chel Diokno demanded stricter penalties for anyone giving minors access to firearms.
According to investigators, the 9mm pistol that the 14-year-old suspect allegedly used belonged to his aunt, a policewoman who was suspended from duty after shooting.
The weapon used by the 15-year-old was registered to his grandfather’s security agency.
Regional police chief Jason Capoy said the suspects had told investigators they staged the attack in retaliation for bullying in school.
The suspects managed to bring the guns onto the campus because it had inadequate security for the 1,600 students, police said.
The preliminary investigation confirmed the suspects were being bullied in school. A few days before the shooting, the two boys had been found hiding in a school bathroom.
"All indications point to the fact that it was planned,” Mr Co, the police spokesperson, said.
Mr Capoy said an investigation ordered by president Ferdinand Marcos Jr would examine all possibilities, including the influence of online groups inciting rebellion and violent behaviour.
Philippine senators, meanwhile, will continue a previous investigation into how online violence impacts children.
Online platforms are “nests for brainwashing and radicalising our children”, Senator Risa Hontiveros said. “If the internet is being used to victimise children, we will not wait for the next victim before we act."
Education minister Sonny Angara said the government was "very concerned" about the mass shooting. "We don't want a situation seen in the United States, where there have been concerns about copycat incidents."
In a video of the attack posted online, students hiding under desks in a shut classroom can be heard screaming and weeping as gunshots are heard outside. Some call their mothers.
The dead and wounded were all students, police said, adding the investigators recovered at least 40 shell casings at the scene.
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