Centre must form panel to check online games like the Blue Whale Challenge, says Supreme Court
The bench also sought the government’s response to a petition that asked for such games to be blocked.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to form a panel of experts to find ways to block online games such as the Blue Whale Challenge, which led to several suicides in the country recently, PTI reported.
A bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, have the order after hearing a petition seeking to firewall such games. The court also asked for the government’s response on the petition and asked High Courts to not entertain similar pleas.
On September 4, the Madras High Court had asked the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government to explore whether the Blue Whale Challenge could be banned. Before that, the Delhi High Court had, in August, asked Facebook, Google and Yahoo to respond to a plea seeking a ban on the controversial game from their platforms.
In September, the Centre had issued an advisory against the Blue Whale Challenge, asking guardians to monitor their children’s online and social media activity so they do not attempt to play the deadly game. The advisory, issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, asked parents to check on children for signs of stress and to ask them about any such signs.