PUBG Mobile India ban: Bombay High Court directs Centre to take action | Tech News

PUBG Mobile India ban: Bombay High Court directs Centre to take action

PUBG Mobile India ban could become a reality as the Bombay High Court has directed the Union government to look into the game and take necessary actions, even ban it if required.

By: MARCIA SEKHOSE
| Updated on: Aug 20 2022, 14:20 IST
PUBG Mobile faces a potential ban in India.
PUBG Mobile faces a potential ban in India. (HT Photo)
PUBG Mobile faces a potential ban in India.
PUBG Mobile faces a potential ban in India. (HT Photo)

The highly popular smartphone game, PUBG Mobile is under scrutiny in India and facing a potential ban. The Bombay High Court has now directed the Union government to look into PUBG Mobile and take necessary actions accordingly.

According to a report by PTI, the Union government has been directed to check the contents of PUBG Mobile and even ban the game if necessary. The court's decision comes from a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by an 11-year old kid in Mumbai seeking a ban on PUBG Mobile. Ahad Nizam, who filed the PIL through his mother, said that PUBG Mobile promotes violence, aggression and cyber-bullying.

This isn't the first of PUBG Mobile's woes as the battle royale game has already faced bans in Gujarat. PUBG Mobile was banned by authorities in some cities including Rajkot, Ahmedabad and Himmatnagar. Although the ban has been lifted now, during the course of it police arrested around 21 people in total for playing the game.

Prior to this, the Vellore Institute of Technology in Tamil Nadu also banned PUBG Mobile. Goa's minister of information technology is also seeking a ban on PUBG Mobile. Mutual reasons came for PUBG Mobile ban which revolved around disturbance to kids' studies, psychological effects and even health issues.

The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) has however filed a PIL before the Gujarat High Court challenging the PUBG Mobile ban. The IFF argues that PUBG Mobile ban violates Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Indian Constitution. The IFF is expecting a hearing on the same in a week or two.

PUBG Mobile in response to the ongoing ban demands said that it expects to have a "constructive dialogue with relevant authorities to explain our objectives and that they withdraw the prohibition".

PUBG Mobile started testing a six-hour time limit for users in India. Introduced as "Healthy Gaming System", PUBG Mobile players in India were barred from playing the game beyond six hours. This feature however had a glitch as some users couldn't play even without crossing the time limit.

The company apologised saying there was a bug in the health reminder for PUBG Mobile. It is yet to introduce an effective measure to curb PUBG Mobile addiction in the country.

 

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First Published Date: 15 Apr, 13:42 IST
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