The Centre has directed Facebook, Google India, WhatsApp, Yahoo India, Microsoft India, Instagram and other internet giants to remove the links of “killer” online game Blue Whale Challenge, which has led to suicide of children in India and other countries.
The Blue Whale is a 50-day challenge which demands players to complete tasks given by an anonymous “handler”.
The player is also asked to share photos after finishing the challenge. The “handler” instruct the players to cause self-harm, leading up to suicide. And it is because of this that there has been a growing demand to ban this game.
“Instances of children committing suicide while undertaking Blue Whale Challenge have been reported in India...You are hereby requested to ensure that any such link of this deadly game in its own name or similar game is immediately removed from your platform,” Ministry of Electronics and IT(Meity) said in a letter dated August 11 to internet majors.
Expressing concern over the availability of such deadly game on the internet, the Ministry said, “It is understood that an administrator of the game uses the social media platform to invite and incite children to play this game, which may eventually lead them to take extreme steps for self-inflicting injuries including suicide. The proponent of this game should be reported to law enforcement agencies”.
The copy of the letter is marked to Joint Secretary (MHA) VSN Prasad and Chetan B Sanghi, Joint Secretary of Ministry of Women and Child Development.
According to sources, the letter was issued following instructions from Union law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi had earlier asked the Government to remove the Blue Whale Challenge game from the social media after some children are suspected to have killed themselves influenced by the game.
Gandhi’s letter said the game is believed to have persuaded some 100 children and young adults to kill themselves in the US, China and other countries. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week asking the Centre to ban the online game.
The lethal trend in the country came to light when a 14-year-old boy jumped from the fifth floor of a building in Mumbai earlier this month. This is believed to be the first case of Blue Whale game in the country. last week, the staff of a Dehradun school stopped a Class V student from killing himself, and Pune Police rescued a boy who was reportedly on his way to complete the challenge. Former Manipur Minister’s son, who committed suicide in Delhi two days ago, might be a victim of the game.
On July 26, a student from Vilapilasala near allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself at his house in Kerala. The boy’s mother has told a Malayalam TV channel that her son had downloaded the Blue Whale game in November last. The Kerala police are investigating the matter whether boy has committed suicide while playing Blue Whale game.