Petition for ban on ‘Blue Whale’
SC to hear matter on Sept. 15; Madurai man moves court for ban on game
New Delhi, Sept. 11: A 73year-old man from Madurai in Tamil Nadu has approached the Supreme Court seeking a ban on the internet-based suicide game ‘Blue Whale challenge’ that has been linked to the deaths of several children worldwide.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud agreed to hear the matter on September 15, the plea filed by advocate N.S. Ponnaiah, seeking a direction to the Centre to ban the online game and spread awareness among the public about it.
“Till the date September 5, media reported that at least 200 people had committed suicide after playing the online Blue Whale game. Most of them are young children under the age group of 13, 14 and 15 years,” the petition filed through C.R. Jaya Sukin said.
The petitioner said that the Madurai City Police had confirmed that a college student, who had committed suicide after playing the game, had forwarded it to over 150 friends. The Delhi high court had on August 22 sought the response of Facebook, Google and Yahoo on a plea to direct them to take down the links of Blue Whale challenge.
Meanwhile, the Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday sought the response of the Centre, Punjab, Haryana and UT Chandigarh on a petition seeking a ban on the Blue Whale online game.
A division bench comprising Justice A.K. Mittal and Justice Amit Rawal issued a notice of motion for September 20 in the matter. The petition was filed by Chandigarh-based advocate Hitesh Kaplish.
“The court on Modnay issued notice to the Union ministry of home affairs, ministry of telecommunications, Punjab, Haryana and Union Territory Chandigarh,”said Mr Kaplish.
The lawyer said he sought a ban on the Blue Whale game. The government should frame a law or issue a notification to make access to the Blue Whale game illegal, he said. The petitioner also sought directions against the publication of the name of online game in the newsreports.
“The publication of name of the game is somewhere leading to its publicity. We need a ban on the publication of this name in news,” he said.
The petitioner argued that the Blue Whale game was leading to suicides by youngsters as they worked to finish their tasks in the online game.
He also sought a 24-hour helpline number to help children by counselling them.