We have seen the havoc played by unscrupulous internet predatory sites
such as the ‘Blue Whale’. It is upto us to empower our children so that they
develop the maturity to say no to such exploitative and inhuman tendencies
online. - Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India.
At present, the internet has more negative impacts on children than positive.
There has been an alarming death rate based on challenges that go trending on
social media. A recent example of such trends is the Blue Whale Challenge. This
challenge is developed and designed in such a way that players tend to harm
themselves either by cutting hands (by carving a picture of a whale) or by
jumping from the building, causing grievous injuries which can succumb to death.
The Blue whale Challenge is a suicide game in which the players have to provide
proof in the form of photos and are given certain tasks on a daily basis for 50
days and after each task video of the task performed is required to be shared
with anonymous curators.
The last task leads to the suicide of the player as he or she psychologically
gets so much traumatized, addicted and depressed which led to taking their own
life. The players are also asked to share photos after finishing each challenge
and sometimes the administrator of the challenge threatens to kill the
participants if they do not do the next task and hacked their phones and
computers as well. Regrettably, the danger of this deadly challenge has been
reported to be highest in India.
To deal with the issue, the Madras High Court has taken Suo moto cognizance to
ban the challenge, while the 3-judge bench of Supreme Court has asked the Centre
to start with the awareness programme on the issue. Thereafter, government as
well as UNICEF has released an advisory to restrict the consequences of the
challenge.
What is worrying is the fact that despite the judiciary’s Orders and state’s
assurance of banning the challenge in India, yet there exist unfortunate
incidents of suicide by the virtue of the said challenge. Certainly, there is a
strong need for the for better implementation of laws to restrict such
challenge. The paper attempts to analyses the existing laws that could
contemplate this challenge and goes on to put forth recommendations to restrict
emerging of any such deadly challenges in future.
Analysis of the Legal Framework
Laws on Technology
In India, digital technology is governed by the Information & Technology Act,
2000 which provides preventive and remedial measures for online offences. The
Act provides for punishment for any criminally intimidating offensive messages
received from any digital source. Section 69-A also confers the powers to the
government to block the public access to any information received or generated
from any computer source to stop incitement of commission of any cognizable
offence.
The Blue Whale is not a freely downloadable challenge. The link of this
challenge is circulated through WhatsApp and the player is bound by the
anonymous curator to register by submitting his personal information to him. The
first stage of the challenge is less challenging, yet dangerous.
However, the player gets addicted to the challenge with the subsequent gory
stages under the threat of their data getting misused. Curator even captures the
personal information of the player and thereby violates the player’s right to
privacy under Section 66E of the Act. Section 79 also covers the role of
intermediaries and formulates rules to block information that aids in the
commission of any unlawful act. Notably, in Registrar’s case, the Supreme Court
has directed the state to take necessary action against WhatsApp and other
similar ‘Over The Top’ (OTT) services, if they fail to provide information
relating Bluewhale to the law enforcement agencies.
Criminal Laws
As inferred from the stages of the Bluewhale, the challenge perfectly falls
under the offence of abetment to suicide. Even the Advisory issued by MeitY
termed the Bluewhale an as abetment to suicide. This offence is covered under
Section 305 for child and insane person as well as under Section 306 of the IPC,
1860. There exist three basic ingredients to the said offence. Firstly, the
deceased should have committed suicide; secondly, the accused, as per this
Section, have abetted or instigated the deceased to commit such act and;
thirdly, there should be direct involvement of the accused in the commission of
the alleged act.
The curator can also be held liable for criminal intimidation under Section 507
of IPC as he anonymously threatens the player to do an illegal act which may
cause severe injury to him. Moreover, there have been instances where the
location of the curator is either unknown or falls outside the territory of the
country.
As the IPC is only applicable within the territory of the state (except where
the subject is governed under extra-territorial operation), it is very difficult
to hold any person guilty who has committed the act in some other country. A
remedy for this issue is provided by the Effects Doctrine, which states that a
sovereign has the power to adopt criminal law that applies to crimes that are
committed within the territory, even if the accused performs the act outside the
territory. With the increase of cybercrime on the Internet, the application of
this doctrine has become significantly important.
Child Laws:
The reported age of majority of the players of Bluewhale ranges from 12 to 19
years. Clearly, this deadly challenge is played mostly by children. The
Bluewhale may qualify as a crime under Section 16 of the POCSO Act for
instigating the child to commit the unlawful offence. The National Policy for
Children (NPC), 2013 states the State’s obligation to take measures to safeguard
the rights of children in need of s any special protection, as mentioned in as
their specific social, economic and geopolitical situations, including their
need for rehabilitation and reintegration. The same Policy also notes that the
State should enact progressive legislation and build a preventive & responsive
child protection system.
Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), 2009 aims to integrate service
provision into a range of existing services to cater to the multiple needs of
children in difficult circumstances, through an interface with various sectors,
including health, education, judiciary et cetera. Systems under ICPS promote the
right to privacy and confidentiality of the child and institutionalisation of
the child is seen as a measure of last resort.
Position in International Law
The right to life is considered a basic human right and is protected by several
international instruments, including Article 3 of the UDHR, Article 6(1) of the
ICCPRand Article 6 of the UNCRC. In most of the cases of Bluewhale, the initial
stages itself lead to the instant death of the player.
The right to physical integrity, while often associated with the right to
freedom from torture, encompasses several broader human rights principles,
including the inherent dignity of the person, the right to liberty and security
of the person, and the right to privacy. Acts of violence threatening a person’s
safety, such as Bluewhale, also violate a person’s right to physical integrity.
The right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is
enshrined in many international and regional instruments particularly Article 25
of the UDHR. Further, Article 12 of the ICESCR states that all State parties to
Covenant recognise the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health. Information collected of
children under 13 years of age are protected under the Children Online Privacy
Protection Act (COPPA), 1998. Many countries like Egypt, U.A.E, Ukraine etc have
completely banned the challenge from their online sources. Russia, assumed to be
the founder of this challenge, introduced three new articles in its Criminal
Code providing punishment for inciting or assisting minors to commit suicide.Â
The Road Ahead
It is suggested that appropriate steps be taken by the State towards prevention
and awareness generation.
The following measures may be considered in this regard:
The Bluewhale should be banned from all the online sources, including the proxy
websites. A team of techno-legal experts should be appointed to check the proper
implementation of the Supreme Court’s and High Courts’ mandate.
Specific amendments may be made in the IT Act, 2000 stating that Bluewhale or
any other similar challenges as a form of misconduct making the curator liable
for disciplinary proceedings.
The law should provide for the participation of the practising population in the
process of review, law-making and the development of strategies. The law should
be made widely available, child-friendly and translated in the appropriate local
languages.
Efforts should be made to pass a law which is indistinguishable to COPPA, 1998
to protect the online privacy of the children.
Written By: Aashish Choudhary, BBA LLB 1st (Semester), Geeta Institute of
Law Panipat
How To File For Mutual Divorce In Delhi Mutual Consent Divorce is the Simplest Way to Obtain a D...
It is hoped that the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which intends to inc...
One may very easily get absorbed in the lives of others as one scrolls through a Facebook news ...
The Inherent power under Section 482 in The Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (37th Chapter of t...
The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is a concept that proposes the unification of personal laws across...
Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing various sectors of the economy, and the legal i...
Please Drop Your Comments