Instructions issued to all tech platforms to check spread of Blue Whale game: Ravi Shankar Prasad

New Delhi: Taking serious note of the death incidents, the government has directed clear instructions to tech platforms to check the spread of 'The Blue Whale Challenge' that has been provoking youth to suicides.

Addressing a press conference, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “I appeal to all tech platforms to strictly abide by government instructions as such a game is completely unacceptable.”

The government has directed internet majors Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Microsoft and Yahoo to immediately remove links of the dangerous online game Blue Whale Challenge, which has led to suicides of children in India and other countries.

The game had allegedly claimed the life of a Mumbai teenager Manpreet Singh Sahani in July.

The Blue Whale Challenge is a suicide game in which the player is given certain tasks to complete for a period of 50 days and the final task leads to suicide. The player is asked to share photos after finishing the different levels of the game. The game is spread via links on social media platforms.

"Instances of children committing suicide while playing Blue Whale Challenge have been reported in India. It is understood that an administrator of the game uses social media platform to invite/incite children to play this game, which may eventually lead the child to extreme steps for self-inflicting injuries, including suicide," a letter sent by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, made available on Tuesday, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) said in a letter to the internet majors.