New Delhi: Recognising the deleterious impact of the online ''killer'', Blue Whale Challenge, the government on Tuesday requested the internet majors to remove the game from India.
The Centre had received requests from Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi, Cheif Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister of Kerala Pinaram Vijayan, to ban the game. With the voices against the game getting louder, the government finally rose to action on Tuesday.
Google, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp , Microsoft and Yahoo, all these platforms that the game uses for its insidious entry, have been directed to remove the links of the game, with immediate effect.
In a letter, the Ministry of electronics and IT said that reports about Blue Whale deaths in India are increasing and requested to ''remove any such links of this deadly game in its own name or similar game immediately'' from their platforms. Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has reportedly ordered the issue of the letter.
Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi, had on Monday taken up the matter with Home Minister Rajnath Singh and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
In a series of tweets the Ministry of Women and Child Development informed that Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi had requested to remove the links of the game from all the social media sites. She also urged parents to monitor children's activities on the internet and prevent them from falling prey to such deadly games.
Chief Minister of Kerala Pinaram Vijayan also wrote to Prime Minister Modi asking him to ban the game in India. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has also asked for the removal of the game.
The cases of Blue Whale Game in India are reportedly increasing. Blue Whale is an online dare game that runs clandestinely. The player has to complete a set of 50 dangerous tasks the last one being that of suicide. The game has marked its advent in India with the suicide of a Mumbai teen. Two more deaths in India are suspected to be linked to the game.