Popular video Games PUBG and Fortnite may be banned shortly

New Delhi: Popular video games like PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) and Fortnite may be banned in India soon. Replying to a letter by Paramjit Singh Pamma, President of Delhi’s National Akali Dal demanding ban of these two games, Government has indicated that if these Games will be proved harmful to the children they may ban such violent Games in India.

Earlier on June 4, under Pamma’s leadership, a group of parents marched to Jantar Mantar in Delhi to protest against these games. They sent a memorandum to the telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to ban games like PUBG and Fortnite.

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On this matter, the Central Electronics and Information Technology Ministry has said that strict measures will be taken for this.

PUBG has a huge user base worldwide nearing to almost 400 million. Not only children, but even elders are also seen addicted to it. In January 2019, the Gujarat government had banned PUBG in all state schools, citing addiction and adverse effects on their education.

In May 2019, the CRPF instructed commanding officers to enforce a ban on troops playing PUBG on their mobile phones following an internal survey that showed the jawans were getting addicted to the online gaming app.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had also sought a report from MeitY on action taken on PUBG addiction among children in the country in March 2019.

In February 2019, an 11-year-old boy had reportedly petitioned the Bombay High Court seeking a ban on PUBG in all Maharashtra schools, stating that the game promoted violence, murder, aggression, looting, leading to game addiction and cyberbullying.

PUBG has been banned so far in many countries. On April 11, Nepal banned the game stating that its violent content had a negative impact on children.

In April 2019, the Iraqi Parliament voted to ban PUBG and Fortnite citing their citing their “negative” influence especially on the young in a country long plagued by real-life bloodshed. A fatwa banning PUBG was also issued in the Indonesian province of Aceh as it reportedly insults Islam and makes addicted players violent, AFP had reported.