Blue Whale Game Endangers Life; Use DD, Pvt Channels To End The "Evil": SC To Centre [Read Order]

Noting that online games like Blue Whale Challenge is endangering life of children and youth, the Supreme Court today asked Doordarshan and Private TV channels to air a programme on prime time to inform about its evil effects.

They are to do it in consultation with Centre.

During the hearing of PILs filed by an advocate Sneha Kalita and N S Ponnaiah, Centre told the bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that Department of Information and technology is engaged in stopping the game and has sent communiqués to several agencies and their response is awaited.

"We don't know how you do it but you must do it..the blue whale game is dangerous to life and whatever endangers life cannot be permitted", CJI Misra told ASG Narasimha.

The bench said in its order that "DD shall prepare a programme in consultation with HRD ministry, Child Welfare ministry and IT department about evil impact of the game and show it during prime time".

The bench also asked the government to set up a panel of experts to block virtual Blue Whale Challenge, which has allegedly led to several suicides.

The court also sought the government’s response on a plea seeking to firewall such life threatening/violent games existing in the cyber world like ‘Choking game’, ‘Salt and Ice Challenge’, ‘Fire Challenge’, ‘Cutting challenge’, ‘Eyeball challenge’ and ‘Human Embroidery game.’ A firewall is a system designed to prevent unauthorised access to or from a private network by controlling incoming and outgoing network traffic

Kalita sought directions to intermediaries, particularly network service providers, internet service providers, web hosting service providers and cyber cafes to observe due diligence and take steps to inform all users of computer resources “not to host, display, upload and share any virtual digital game, which is grossly harmful and life threatening and morally degrading.”

“Issue directions to the respondents No 1 (Centre) to take immediate measures to ban/block the sites linked with the dangerous Blue Whale online game or any other forms of violence and immoral game similar in nature,” the plea said.

Kalita sought a direction to the government to improve “the filtering services at Indian shores like having firewalls in each cable landing station or having DNS blocking wall with brain scanner (at underground submarine optical fibre cable connecting the operators abroad) to be installed at Indian shores to prevent and filter the virtual online games which are harmful and life-threatening and morally degrading.

The petition also sought a direction to the Ministry of Woman and Child Development to take precautions to prevent youngsters from falling into the trap of such games.