Blue Whale challenge: Channels must air hazards of the game during prime time, says SC

The Supreme Court on Friday said the national broadcasting channel Doordarshan and private channels should create awareness on health hazards in Blue Whale Challenge game by telecasting it in their prime time programmes.

Advocates N S Ponnaih and Sneha Kalita had filed petition seeking complete ban on the game and blamed it for the hundred suicides throughout the country in recent times.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra after hearing the plea observed that it was a national problem.

The Central government told the apex court that it had set up an expert committee to look into the issue and will be filing a report within three weeks.

On September 15, the top court had issued a notice to the Centre in connection with a plea seeking a complete ban on the Blue Whale Challenge game.

The deadly online game challenges players for over 50 days, demanding them to complete tasks given by an anonymous controller.

The game initially asks the player to draw a whale on a piece of paper, then carve a whale figure on their body, and then gives other tasks such as watching horror movies alone at odd hours.

The task concludes with the final challenge that is committing suicide.

More than six children across India in the age group of 12-19 years have taken their lives allegedly while playing this game within a span of two weeks, reports have said.

Deaths of teenagers have also been reported from other countries including Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile and Italy, the PIL has said.

Blue Whale game

The Blue Whale challenge is said to be the brainchild of an arrested Russian national, who admitted to having psychologically manipulated teen girls to kill themselves.

Blue Whale challenge targets teenagers and young children. It calls on participants via social media to complete a dangerous self-harm challenge over a period of 50 days and allegedly encourages them to win the game by committing suicide. The tasks range from self-harming, watching scary movies to waking up at unusual hours, media reported.

According to reports, the dangerous game has killed more than 100 children in Russia and the United Kingdom.