Indian Govt asks Google, Facebook and others to remove Blue Whale Challenge links

In the wake of the recent incidents of suicides involving teens in India and other countries, the Indian government has issued a directive for the Internet majors like Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Microsoft, and Yahoo to immediately delete the links of dangerous online game Blue Whale Challenge.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has issued the order to ban this game, which 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 commit suicide to complete the challenge.

“Instances of children committing suicide while (playing) 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,” Ministry of electronics and IT said in a letter dated August 11 to the internet majors.

Mumbai and West Midnapore district have recently reported deaths linked to this game. 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 self-inflicting 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.