Like many shooting-based games, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) has faced a lot of criticism for inciting violence. Many argue that the violence found in these games often seeps into reality. It’s in this light that HC Arora, an Indian lawyer from Chandigarh, Punjab, has filed for the ban of PUBG Mobile. The lawyer filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to ban the battle royale game in Punjab.
This is not the first time PUBG has come under such scrutiny, especially in India. In 2019, Ahad Nizam filed a PIL in the Mumbai High Court. He stated that PUBG promoted violence, murder, aggression, loot, and gaming addiction, among other vices.
Anti-PUBG lawyer claims
HC Arora filed a PIL in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In this, he states that “School going children who are losing interest in studies have become addicted to the game. The parents of such children are helpless.” The PIL even alleges that, when such parents insist that their kids stop playing, these children can “become aggressive and go into depression.”
Already, the High Court has asked India’s Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to make a decision on the issue. The ministry has stated that a ban for the game is in consideration. The Indian government is no stranger to the PUBG Mobile ban, as they have previously (temporarily) banned it in the Indian states of Gujarat and Chennai.
PUBG Mobile is the most popular game in India. In a survey by Jana, a free internet platform, 62 percent of the 1074 Indian responders said that they played PUBG. As such, a ban on the game may not seem the best option. After all, a ban often just leads to people finding more creative ways to play the game. But for now, we can only await an official decision to see where the story goes from here.
