Blue Whale ban: SC seeks Centre's response

The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre's response to a petition filed by a 73-year-old Tamil Nadu man, seeking a ban on the Blue Whale challenge game, which has been linked to the deaths of several children worldwide.

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

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

On September 11, the apex court had agreed to hear the plea filed by advocate NS Ponnaiah, who has also sought creation of awareness among the public about the online game.

At least 200 persons, many of them schoolchildren in the age group of 13-15 years, have so far killed themselves after playing the online game.

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.

It may be recalled that the Delhi High Court has already asked Facebook, Google, and Yahoo for their response to a separate petition seeking directions to them to take down the links of the Blue Whale challenge.