Blue Whale Menace: Madras HC Tells Centre To Ask Russia To Block Links & Take Action Against Culprits [Read Order]

Shocked at the menace of blue whale reaching the sleepy hamlet of Vilachery in Tamil Nadu, the Madras High Court has delved into great depths to counter what it called the “lurking dangers in the digital world”, while directing the Centre to use its diplomatic relationship with Russia to block the URLs/links related to Blue Whale game and seek penal action against the culprits on behalf of India.A bench of Justice KK Sasidharan and Justice GR Swaminathan issued a string of directions to the Centre and also to the government of Tamil Nadu to ensure youth do not fall prey to Blue Whale, a game developed by a psychopath in Russia.The court had taken up suo motu cognisance of a news report about a 19-year-old B.Com student hanging himself to death at his house in Vilachery on September 1. His suicide note read, “Blue Whale was not a game, but a disaster.”While dealing with the subject, the bench explored various aspects which opens society to risks such as Blue Whale as it said “it is this current reality (of IT world) and potential dangers that made us look beyond”.The bench opened its judgment quoting poet PB Shelley: "The desire of the moth for the star, of the night for the morrow, the devotion to something afar from the sphere of our sorrow."It went on to say, “But the moth does not go to the star. It falls into the flame and dies. Online games tap such tendencies innate in individuals. They challenge the player to move from one level to the next higher level. They are addictive. Mostly, they are a meaningless waste of time, though some are psychologically harmful. But where the finale is fatal, it can no longer be ignored as something private. Blue Whale game is one such. It started in Russia and has since spread worldwide.”The bench was shocked at how Google India washed its hand off any responsibility when the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) asked it to unlist/ remove the said game/ apps from relevant platforms like Google Playstore for avoiding further downloads/ circulation in India.“We read and re-read the aforesaid response of Google India. Google India has virtually washed its hands off. Action will be taken by Google Play Team based in the US if their "Policy" is violated. MeitY had also written to Microsoft India, Facebook India, Yahoo India and other social media service providers requiring them to ensure that the link to the said deadly game is immediately removed from their platforms,” it said.Threat To National SecurityEven though Blue Whale game is no longer downloadable, it is still available. The administrator is able to reach out to potential victims through what is known as "Over the top services" like WhatsApp, Wickr, Silent Circle, osTel, ChatSecure, Signal, ShareIt etc. They can create closed communication/chatting fora which ensure anonymity of the users. The police are left with no clue about the administrator as well as the players.The court was presented with a possibility that the very same modus operandi can be adopted by anti-national forces and international terrorists. They can identify potential youth for radicalisation from the mainstream platforms like Facebook, Twitter etc. Once identified, the selected people can be taken to closed groups over Telegram or WhatsApp where they can be further groomed and trained and radicalised. Thereafter, specific instruction can be passed on for execution. It was whispered, rather audibly at the bar, that this is already going on. The threat to national security from the net is far more serious than what is apparent now.The bench referred to how WhatsApp messages, which are end-to-end encrypted, were used to plot the November-2015 Paris attacks or the 2017 Westminster attack.It referred to apex court decisions in cases like Kamlesh Vasvani Vs Union of India and Sabu Mathew George vs Union of India where the Supreme Court had directed various internet giants to remove child pornography content and advertisements for gender selection, respectively.“The Government of India cannot be heard to say that agencies will carry on their business operations in the territory of India but would remain outside the reach of its law enforcement. The preambular declaration is that the people of India had solemnly constituted India into a Sovereign Republic. A sovereign has certain attributes, one of which is that those who are within its territorial limits shall abide by its commands,” the court said.Fundamental Right To Privacy vs Surveillance StateAcknowledging that the Supreme Court has recognised right to privacy as a fundamental right, the Madras High Court noted that it would not be considered a violation if internet service providers are brought within a regulatory framework.The bench cited the example of a case titled Google Spain vs Agencia Espanola in Spain, where a citizen wanted certain references in internet to be deleted and was asserting what has now come to be known as "Right to be Forgotten".“When Google...

Blue Whale Menace: Madras HC Tells Centre To Ask Russia To Block Links & Take Action Against Culprits [Read Order]

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