Online gaming addiction among children, women a major public health issue: Madras High Court on Free Fire, PUBG et al

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday took suo motu cognisance of the rising addiction to online gaming among school students, teenagers, and women..A Bench of Justices R Mahadevan and J Sathyanarayana Prasad noted in its order,"Playing of online games is very dangerous especially, to girl children and women also, since they get caught in the hands of the scandalous persons."It thus sought responses from the Central and State governments on regulating Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) often used by gamers to circumvent bans and restrictions imposed by law..The Court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by the kin of a girl who was addicted to one such online game, and had gone missing recently..During the course of the hearing, the Court was informed that the girl had been addicted to an online game called Free Fire. Several other lawyers present in Court at the time told the Bench that their children too, were addicted to Free Fire or similar games. The petitioners and the other lawyers told the Court that games such as Free Fire, PUBG and Call of Duty, were immensely popular among youngsters and there were frequent cases of school children and teenagers stealing money or getting into other illegalities to continue playing these games..The Court noted that though games such as PUBG, which propagate violence, had been banned by the government in 2020, some gaming companies revised their privacy policies and re-entered mobile play stores in 2021. It also took note that players of banned online games often use VPNs to circumvent the restrictions imposed by the government."Addiction to online games by school going children, and college students, and women, has become a major public health issue, and a great concern for the parents. It (such addiction) has taken a heavy toll on their physical, emotional, psychological, social, and academic life," the order stated. On the unregulated in-app messaging services that are a feature of these games, the Court expressed an apprehension that unassuming children would fall prey to data theft and extortion."Thus, the anti-social elements easily connect themselves through such games and get accessed to the private accounts of a person and steal all the personal data of a person and then threatening him for money and also making harassment. These types of online games are causing evil threats to the society.".The Court further said that sitting for hours at one's computer or phone, playing online games that involved role-playing or violent tasks, resulted in several physical and mental health issues such opthalmic and muscular ailments, sleep deprivation and a restricted view of the world."Like an autistic person, they (players) too remain absorbed in these types of online games," the Court said.On how these games can have a negative impact on its players, the Court said,"Further, those who fail to score the coveted rank in such online games, develop feelings of worthless and even some of them go to the extent of committing suicide. Further, some of the gamers are bullied by strangers through such online games and in an attempt to take revenge therefor, sometimes, the youngsters fight offline and those who are very smart at playing online games, develop feelings of grandiosity and superiority complex, thereby, psychologically they feel flying between manic like highs and depressive lows and some players also face withdrawal symptoms...".It went on to add that it was imperative for the nation's growth that its youth and women remained physically and psychologically fit. Responsible citizens must not waste time "watching filth," the judges said. "In our view, the State as well as the Central Governments must come forward with a clear-cut report as to how these types of online games, which damage the life of younger generation, are permitted despite the ban imposed by the Government of India. We are, therefore, of the view that constitutional Court has got the responsibility to take up the issue in larger public interest."The Bench thus directed the High Court Registry to register a writ petition on the issue. The Central and State governments were directed to suggest ways to regulate VPNs and YouTube channels that broadcast tutorials on online games, and to create awareness among school children on the ills of online gaming..[Read order]