Blue Whale challenge a 'national problem,' says Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday called the Blue Whale challenge a "national problem," ANI reported.

The apex court also directed state-run Doordarshan and private television channels to help create awareness about the deadly game, by telecasting the dangers of the game in their prime time programmes.

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The Centre informed the court that it has set up an expert committee to look into the issue and file a report within three weeks.

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The government's move comes days after the Supreme Court asked it to set up a panel of experts to block virtual dare games, like the Blue Whale challenge, which has allegedly led to several suicidal deaths, PTI reported.

The court had also asked the government to respond to a plea seeking to firewall potentially deadly and violent online games like 'Choking game', 'Salt and Ice Challenge', 'Fire Challenge', 'Cutting challenge', 'Eyeball challenge' and 'Human Embroidery game'.

The Blue Whale challenge gained notoriety when news broke that it was allegedly responsible for the deaths of over 130 youngsters in Russia.

The challenge was termed a 'suicide game,' which manipulated impressionable teenagers to complete a series of dark challenges, like listening to 'dark songs' and self-harming, and ultimately goading the youngster to commit suicide.

When it emerged that the game had made inroads into India, Russia assured its help to control the phenomenon.

(With inputs from agencies)