Beach the Blue Whale: Government directs Google, Facebook, WhatsApp to delete suicide game links
The Centre has directed internet companies including Google, Facebook and Microsoft, to take down links of the Blue Whale, a challenge-based suicide game that has been linked to a number of suicides.
In Short
- Govt asks net companies to delete Blue Whale Challenge links.
- The challenge takes players through various tasks before asking them to commit suicide.
- Blue Whale has been linked to a number of suicides.
The sudden popularity of the lethal online game called the Blue Whale Challenge - in which the final task requires the player to commit suicide - has forced the government to swing into action.
Centre has directed Internet giants to ban the dangerous game. The ministry of electronics and information technology has directed Internet majors -Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Microsoft and Yahoo - to immediately remove links of the online game, which has also led to a number of suicides by children worldwide.
The suicide of a 14-year-old boy in Mumbai triggered the debate about the game in India, and since then, increasing number of teenagers are reported to have been playing this game. In a latest incident, in July, Kerala's Manoj C Manu, 16, hanged himself. On Monday, his mother has informed police that she suspects her son committed suicide to complete the Blue Whale Challenge.
The ban issue was recently raised in the Maharashtra Assembly and in the Rajya Sabha by members, who called for provisions to remove such games from websites.
The Blue Whale Challenge is not a mobile game, website or app that can be downloaded and therefore the ministry has asked the Internet giants to block access to related content.
The administrators of the challenge use different online forums to reach out to their victims. Driven by a series of hashtags connected with the game, the curators apparently spot their victims based on their posts on different online forums.
"Instances of children committing suicide while Blue Whale Challenge have been reported in India...You are hereby requested to ensure that any such link of this deadly game in its own name or similar game is immediately removed from your platform," the ministry of electronics and IT(Meity) said in a letter, to the internet majors, dated August 11.
Social networking giants Instagram and Facebook have come up with measures -where a user is directed to a help page when they search for hashtags related to the blue whale challenge.
"Posts with words or tags you're searching for often encourage behaviour that can cause harm and even lead to death. If you're going through something difficult, we'd like to help," reads the page on Instagram. It gives a user three options - "Talk to a friend", "Contact a helpline" and "Get tips and support".
The game reportedly consists of a series of tasks assigned to the player by administrators during a 50-day period. The ultimate task seeks the player to take the extreme step to complete the challenge.
The order points out that the action on the part of Google, Facebook etc is called for since "the administrator of the game uses a social media platform to invite or incite children to play this game, which may eventually lead the child to extreme steps for selfinflicting injuries, including suicide." The order also asks the internet platforms to report to police and other law enforcement agencies about the proponent of this game.
Copies of the issued order have been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs as well as Ministry of Women and Child Development.
Notably, Maneka Gandhi, the minister for Women and Child Development, recently wrote to her counterpart in the Electronics Ministry to ban the game.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take action to stop the spread of the game.
The game is said to have originated in Russia. It was created by Philipp Budeikin, 22, who is currently lodged in a Siberian jail. The game has reportedly claimed lives of over 130 kids around the world.
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