A public interest litigation was filed before the Delhi High Court on Wednesday against lethal online game ‘Blue whale challenge’, which is leading its participants to commit suicide.The PIL was mentioned by advocate Gurmeet Singh before Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shanker seeking directions to internet companies to take down the links of ‘Blue Whale’,...
A public interest litigation was filed before the Delhi High Court on Wednesday against lethal online game ‘Blue whale challenge’, which is leading its participants to commit suicide.
The PIL was mentioned by advocate Gurmeet Singh before Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shanker seeking directions to internet companies to take down the links of ‘Blue Whale’, a challenge-based suicide game that has been allegedly linked to deaths of several children worldwide.
Citing these deaths, advocate Gurmeet Singh sought immediate directions to restrain internet majors from uploading any material pertaining to the deadly game.
He also sought direction to the Delhi Police to appoint a special team to oversee whether the internet companies comply with the court’s direction.
The sudden popularity of the lethal game – Blue Whale Challenge, in which the final task requires the player to commit suicide, has forced the government to issue directions to the internet giants to remove the links of the dangerous game.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Electronics and IT directed the internet majors – Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Yahoo – to immediately remove the links of the game that has led several children in India and other countries to commit suicide.
The Blue Whale Challenge is reportedly a suicide game in which the player is given certain tasks to complete for a period of 50 days and the final task leads to committing suicide. The player is also asked to share photos after finishing the challenge.
The petition said: “There are so many children and people being adversely affected by this menace namely ‘Blue Whale Challenge’ and they do not even know that the same will cost their life and their families will suffer heavily. All citizens of India will be benefited if the said menace is stopped.”
More than six children across India in the age group of 12-19 years have taken their lives while playing this game within a span of two weeks. Deaths of teenagers playing this game were reported from other countries, including Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile and Italy, the PIL said.
Read the Petition Here