SC seeks Centre's reply on plea for banning Blue Whale game

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Friday sought the response from the Centre on a plea of a 73-year-old man from Tamil Nadu seeking a ban on the Blue Whale challenge game linked to deaths of several children worldwide.

The apex court also sought the assistance of Attorney General K K Venugopal in the matter.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud issued a notice to the Centre and sought its response in three weeks.

The apex court had on September 11, agreed to hear the plea filed by advocate N S Ponnaiah who also sought to create awareness among the public about the online game.

Till 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 in the age group of 13 to 15 years, the petition filed through C R Jaya Sukin said.

The petitioner said 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 the Blue Whale challenge.

A government advisory on 'Blue Whale Challenge Game' has asked guardians to monitor their children's online and social media activity to ensure that they are not engaging with the deadly game which has led to a spate of suicides in India and other countries.

It has asked them not to talk about the game "unless there is a reason to believe your child already knows of or has played the game" as discussing it may "increase the chance that your child will search for it on their own", said the advisory issued by the ministry of electronics and IT.