German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said gaming platforms are giving rise to radicalization and anti-Semitism.

In comments following the terrorist attack in the eastern city of Halle, he called on the government and parliament to grant the country's security authorities new powers over online services, and gaming platforms, reported Germany's Bild newspaper.

A gunman last week attempted to enter a synagogue in Halle but failed to get in. He then shot dead two people nearby.

The attacker livestreamed the 35-minute assault as he denied the Holocaust and spewed anti-Semitic comments.

The video was later removed. 

"The problem is very serious. Many of the perpetrators or the potential perpetrators come from the gaming scene," Seehofer said in "Bericht aus Berlin" (Report from Berlin) program of the country's public ZDF television, urging a closer look at the situation.

The program discussed right-wing extremism on the internet and how well the security authorities can act against it.

The attacker also published an online manifesto expressing anti-Semitic sentiments.

"This manifesto appeared on the internet the day after his act," said the minister, adding that the security at synagogues and other Jewish venues is being tightened.

Germany's Der Spiegel magazine said in a report that the manifesto included tasks from computer games.

All types of extremists use gaming platforms, the report said, quoting security authorities.

"Some people take simulations as a role model," said Seehofer. "You have to look closely at whether it's still a computer game, a simulation, or covert planning for a target. And that's why we need to take a closer look at the gamer scene."

Twitter debate

The program "Bericht aus Berlin" posted a clip from his video interview on Twitter on Saturday, which triggered a debate.

The comments drew criticism, which many users said has distracted attention from the problem of right-wing extremism and placed gamers under suspicion.

German cabaret artist of Israeli descent, Shahak Shapira, posted a photoshopped image of Adolf Hitler with a VR headset on Twitter.

"This young man has also radicalized himself in the #Gamer scene," he tweeted.

Many Twitter users made fun of Seehofer's idea that games can promote aggression. They used "Candy Crush," "Pokémon,"  and board games as "evidence" of the terrorist threat posed by gaming.

"No shooter in the world makes me anywhere near as aggressive as a round of Monopoly. I think we should take a closer look at the board game scene," a Twitter user wrote.

"Right-wing radicals became right-wing radicals because when they were kids in Super Mario, they kept running to the right all the time," said another person on Twitter.