Philippines bans GoreBox app after three killed in school shooting: What we know

The Philippines has temporarily blocked the GoreBox gaming app days after a shocking school shooting in the country killed three students and left 20 injured.

According to investigators probing the rare shooting, two teenagers were accused of opening fire on students at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City.

One of the teens in custody has regularly played the game, which allows players to use various weapons and depicts graphic violence.

About the GoreBox gaming app

GoreBox is described on Google Play as allowing gamers to “engage in brutal combat with an extensive arsenal of weapons and explosives and witness the raw effects of realistic ragdoll physics and an intense gore system that brings dismemberment to life”.

Gorebox gaming app

Launched in 2023 by F2 Games, GoreBox has over 10 million downloads and carries an 18+ rating by the International Age Rating Coalition due to its depictions of extreme violence.

Temporary ban on GoreBox in the Philippines

The Philippines’ Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Centre (CICC) said that it has issued a temporary ban against the mobile gaming app as a precautionary measure pending investigation.

“We cannot ignore possible online influences that may have contributed to this tragic incident,” said CICC undersecretary Aboy Paraiso.

Temporarily blocking will reportedly allow the authorities to determine whether the platform played any role in the suspects’ opening fire at the school, which claimed three lives.

“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,” Paraiso said.

“Our priority is the safety and well-being of Filipino children exposed to the internet.”

About the San Jose National High School shooting

Three students were killed after a pair of teenagers opened fire. One was arrested soon after the shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, while the second surrendered later.

The suspects were armed with a .38 revolver and a 9mm pistol, the latter of which belongs to a policewoman who is one of the suspects’ relatives and is now in custody.

“The two [suspects] went straight to the classroom. Without saying anything, they started firing,” Colonel Allen Rae Co told reporters.

“Initially, it appears that the motive of the crime is grudge for school bullying,” he added.

The colonel said that it was unclear at this stage of the investigation whether the intended targets were in that classroom.

School shootings in the Philippines

While crimes involving the use of firearms are common in the Philippines due to the proliferation of unlicensed firearms, school shootings are relatively rare.

As per the police, local media reported that the initial interview findings suggest that the grade 9 suspects, aged 14 and 15, might have been bullied and that the alleged attack was carried out in the response. The pair are in police custody.

The justice department said it was looking into the possibility that the shooting was part of a trend of nihilistic violent extremism, characterised by the perpetration of extreme violence without a coherent and traditional ideological framework.

The Philippines’ human rights commission said it was also “alarmed by other recent reports of violence in schools, including two separate stabbing incidents at Cavite National High School and Bethel Academy of General Trias in Cavite within the past week”.

“These incidents underscore the urgent need to strengthen measures that prevent violence and protect learners,” the commission said in a statement.