Michael J. Gobartov, Vice Consul, Consulate General of Russian Federation in Southern India, and Director, Russian Centre of Science and Culture, on Friday informed the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench) that Russia would render assistance to India in curbing the dangerous Blue Whale Challenge game, which originated in his country.
The court was hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) petition initiated by it following the recent suicide of a Madurai-based college boy, who had allegedly taken to the Blue Whale Challenge.
In the report submitted to the court, through R. Rajagobal, advocate and Chairman, Indo-Russian Centre for Rural Development, the Vice Consul stated that the Government of Russia and the Consulate are willing to render their assistance to the High Court and the Government of Tamil Nadu, and are willing to take instructions in putting an end to the game, which had turned into a wild subculture, according to the Consul.
‘Available elsewhere too’
However, he submitted that the competent government authority’s decision to block the Russian social media site VKontakte (VK) was not wise as the Blue Whale Challenge content, which first surfaced on VK, was now available on other platforms as well.
The Consul stated that all the discovered suicidal groups of VK had been blocked and the ones that existed were moderated in the Russian language, including the game tasks. Since the language was Russian, and with very few Indian users, he said only the [relevant] content should have been blocked rather than the social media site itself.
The Division Bench of Justices K.K. Sasidharan and G.R. Swaminathan, which had initiated the suo motu PIL, had directed the Centre to use the diplomatic relationship it shared with Russia to block the URLs and links to the game.
