Kerala government will request the Centre to block the dangerous Blue Whale game, which contains a host of difficult challenges and drives vulnerable teens to ultimately kill themselves.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in the assembly that the state was vigilant ever since it came to know that around 2,000 people had downloaded it in Kerala. Replying to a submission by MLA Raju Abraham, Pinarayi also added that the state will urge the Centre to take necessary steps to curb it.
Earlier, there were reports that four children from Palakkad travelled to Chavakkad beach as sought by the game. Pointing to the reports, Raju Abraham said that the game should be blocked at the earliest.
“Reports say that teenagers in our state may get attracted to this game that forced many teens to commit suicide globally. Players blindly carryout the tasks the administrator gives them. I don't know whether it is possible for the state government to block the game, but I ask the government to take every possible action to save our youngsters,“ Abraham told Vijayan, who also holds the IT portfolio, reports The Times of India.
Answering to the question, the CM said that police have been closely monitoring whoever downloaded the game and they were asked to delete it.
He added that the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team was the only agency that could do something about it and that state government would appeal to the Centre to act.
Earlier, the Kerala Police had issued a statement asking parents to be cautious of their children's activities, including on social media.
The Blue Whale challenge, reportedly created by a former convict in Russia, is said to psychologically provoke players to indulge in daring, self-destructive tasks for 50 days before finally taking the "winning" step of killing themselves -- and each task must be filmed and shared as "proof".