Free Fire ban: Dubbed as dangerous for youths, crackdown launched by court in this country

Free Fire ban: A crackdown has been launched in Bangladesh and this will come as a big setback to fans of Garena Free Fire game.

Garena Free Fire ban: A court in Bangladesh has ordered officials to remove Free Fire from cyberspace. (Garena International)

Free Fire ban: Free Fire is among the most popular games in the world. Millions of fans play the game on a daily basis for long hours, especially the youths. However, together, this popularity and addiction by the young, is driving governments and courts to launch crackdowns against it. It is not just Garena Free Fire that is being targetted, other games that are facing the same situation are PUBG Mobile. And the latest country to join this trend is Bangladesh. According to a report by Dhaka Tribune, the Bangladesh High Court has asked the local government to remove all dangerous and harmful applications from its cyberspace. The list includes the mobile gaming app Garena Free Fire, which has gained immense popularity among gamers there.

The order was passed by an HC bench of Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah earlier this week after hearing a writ petition wherein the lawyers had claimed that the youth of the country ‘were becoming addicted to these games'. The lawyers had also claimed that these apps were having an adverse effect on the country's youth and that they provided opportunities for criminal activities in the country.

Now, the Bangladesh High court has ordered relevant authorities, which as per the report include Secretaries of the Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministry and many other official establishments to immediately remove all dangerous or harmful games and mobile apps from the country's cyberspace.

In addition to this, the Bangladesh HC, in its ruling, also asked why such online games and social media-based mobile apps should not be banned from the country's online space. The HC has asked the concerned authorities to respond to the ruling within 10 days.

Notably, the Indian government, last year, banned over 200 Chinese apps within its borders including TikTok, PUBG Mobile, Likee, WeChat, and UB Browser among others saying that these apps were a threat to national security. “This action was taken based on the inputs regarding these apps for engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of the state and public order,” the government had said at the time. Now, it looks like other countries are following its suit.

Significantly, even China has launched a crackdown against such games with Tencent's Honor of Kings and other online games being targetted for their negative impact on the youth of the country. It has forced companies to impose new rules that restrict the number of hours they can play these games, even on holidays.