Blue Whale Challenge: Delhi HC seeks Centre's report enlisting steps to ban online game

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to submit a list of steps taken to ban the Blue Whale online game that has led to numerous suicides among teens. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar asked the central government to file the report by 12 October. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police told the high court that a direction has been issued to social media service providers Facebook, WhatsApp, Google, Yahoo, Rediff and Twitter to block or take down any link or reference to the game. [caption id=“attachment_4060675” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The police also stated that it has issued an advisory for parents and guardians regarding harmful effect of the game. The court was hearing a plea filed by an advocate Gurmeet Singh, who cited deaths of youths in India and abroad because of the game. Singh has sought immediate directions to restrain the internet majors from uploading any material pertaining to the Blue Whale Challenge. The plea also sought direction to Delhi Police to appoint a special team comprising at least five members to oversee whether the internet companies are complying with the court’s direction. The plea mentioned that more than six youths across India in the age group of 12-19 have taken their lives within a span of two weeks while playing this game. It added that deaths of teenagers have been reported from other countries including Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile and Italy due to the game. The sudden popularity of the lethal online game Blue Whale Challenge had forced the government to issue directions to the internet giants to remove links to the game. The Ministry of Electronics and IT had directed Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Microsoft and Yahoo to immediately remove the links of Blue Whale Challenge. Among the deaths reported is of 14-year-old boy Manpreet Singh Sahani who allegedly walked off the fifth floor of his building in Sher-e-Punjab Colony in Andheri East in Mumbai on 30 July.