No data to suggest PUBG adversely affect children: Centre to HC

The ministry of electronics and information technology (MoEIT) on Wednesday informed the Bombay high court (HC) it had no material suggesting that PUBG and other

The ministry of electronics and information technology (MoEIT) on Wednesday informed the Bombay high court (HC) it had no material suggesting that PUBG and other similar online games can cause adverse effects in children.

HT Image

Advocate Rui Rodrigues replied in the negative after a bench of acting chief justice BP Dharmadhikari and justice NR Borkar asked if the Central ministry had any material to indicate adverse effects of online games such as PUBG. Rodrigues informed the bench that the ministry does not monitor online content. An affidavit filed by the ministry, however, said it has taken the initiative to create awareness among school teachers and parents, with a view to protect youth from excessive online gaming and addiction, specifically related to PUBG.

The awareness programme outlined some symptoms of addiction and also suggested a method called “Digital Detox”, to prevent addiction of online games among children.

The affidavit filed in reply to a public interest litigation (PIL) by an 11-year-old, Ahad Nizam, added that in recent years, use of social media has grown exponentially and currently Facebook has 27 crore users in India. Besides in India, Twitter has over 3.4 crore users, YouTube has 26.5 crore users and WhatsApp has about 40 crore users.

The 11-year-old had moved HC, seeking a ban on PUBG. Ahad, who has filed the petition through his mother, said the game should be banned as it promotes violence, agression and cyberbullying.

The game exposes tender-aged children to violence, said his lawyer, advocate Tanveer Nizam. Nizam pointed out that as of now, there is no age limit for access to the game, which has seen over 250 million downloads.

Adding that the game needs to be banned, he also pointed out that the petition, therefore, also seeks a direction to the Central government to form an online ethics reviews committee to keep a periodical check on such violence-oriented content online.

Responding to his plea for directing the Maharashtra school education department to ban the game, a government pleader said no school allows students to play the game in school and conduct of a child outside school is a matter of parental control. The court then adjourned hearing on the PIL for two weeks to enable other respondents to file affidavits.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) is an online multi-player game created by a South Korean company and experts have claimed it adversely affects the behaviour of those addicted to it