The Orissa High Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre and the State Government asking to file counters to a PIl that has sought to make public the Center’s notification of August 11, 2017 with regard to removal all links in social media platforms of the deadly online game of Blue Whale Challenge.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Vineet Saran and Justice Dr BR Sarangi admitting the petition filed by a lawyer, Shivshankar Mohanty, issued the notices and adjourned the hearing to September 18.
The petitioner has alleged that despite the Government’s notification about a month ago to remove the online links of the suicidal game, the intermediaries like the Facebook and the Instagram have not done so; and, moreover, the Government notification is also not available in the public domain.
The petitioner, who argued the case himself, told the court that Section 69 (a) of the Information Technology (IT) Act of 2000 authorises the Central Government to issue directions for blocking of public access to any material that incites commission of any cognisable offence.
“Sub-Section 3 of the same section of the Act provides punishment to the intermediary, who fails to comply with the direction and shall be punished with an imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine,” the petitioner told the court.
Annexing newspaper clippings to his petition, Mohanty also informed the court that innocent youths are falling prey to the online game, the administrator of which after certain levels of the game asking the participants to perform certain dangerous tasks like taking selfies standing on the edge of rooftops and abetting to commit suicide.