INTRODUCTION:

Most popular social media in India are Facebook, WhatsAppand Twitter. When the users of the digital media use the social medium in a negative way, it is a Cyber Crime. One of major cybercrimes happening around the world through social media currently is the deadly ‘Blue whale game’. The ‘Blue whale game’ aka ‘Blue whale challenge’ itself is an idea of mass hypnotism invented by Philipp Budeikin who was a Russian psychology student in the year 2013. The Blue Whale challenge is an Internet suicide game where the player is given various tasks by an administrator over a 50-day period, ranging from isolation to self-harm and ultimately suicide.

The game reportedly caused its first suicide in Russia. A teenager Rina Palenkovoy who had posted picture of herself on VKontakte (VK.com) and then committed suicide in 2015 But the world really woke up to it in 2016 when a journalist drew attention to this social media phenomenon through an article linking unrelated suicide victims.Budekin was eventually arrested and pled guilty to 'inciting at least 16 teenage girls to commit suicide. When enquired after the reason behind it, he sarcastically replied that he had invented the game to control over population, he added that the challenge only kills the fools who were dumb enough to listen to the command of the game and do it. He alleged to be a part of the movement ‘F57’ which is related to the activities like mass suicide. Initially he invented this game for his research purpose. The concept of his research is to study about hypnotizing a person using modern technologies like social media i.e. new media. IlyaSidorov, believed to be an administrator of the game, has also reportedly been arrested in Moscow. The game, initially believed to have been available on the social networking site VKontakte, is said to have got its name from the popular belief that blue whales sometimes beach themselves to die. India woke up to the Blue Whale alarm, after a boy in Mumbai’s Andheri area committed suicide in August 2017. The Blue Whale Challenge now has a disturbingly large audience in different cities across India. The infamous Blue Whale challenge has been in news for over two months now for making vulnerable teenagers indulge in self-harming acts and ultimately taking their own lives.

OBJECTIVE AND METHODOLOGY:

The main purpose of this paper is to study about Blue Whale Game in New Media and its Impact on society, and the actions taken against them by government.

This study has adopted a case study method to examine on five incidents happened across India in the year 2017 and what are the actions taken towards them. The study analysed the news articles in the selected newspaper – The Hindu, and DT Next and online news articles from selected E-newspaper – The Indian Express.com, HindustanTimes.com, TimesofIndia.com, India.com Based on Non-Probability Judgmental sampling method – the following five categories are created

Five Cases:

· Blue whale victim in Maharashtra - Mumbai

· Mumbai boy 1st Indian victim of ‘Blue Whale challenge’

· Actions taken by the Maharashtra government

· Blue whale victims in Uttar Pradesh - Lucknow

· 2 deaths linked to Blue whale game in UP

· Actions taken by the UP government

· Blue whale victim in Tamil Nadu -Madurai

· 'Blue Whale' game claims 19-year-old's life

· Actions taken by the TN government

· Blue whale victim in Pondicherry

· MBA student hangs himself in Pondicherry

· Actions taken by the Pondicherry government

· Blue whale victim in Rajasthan - Jodhpur

· Narrow escape from final fatality

· Actions taken by the Rajasthan government

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:

1. Blue whale victim in Maharashtra – Mumbai:

1st Indian victim of ‘Blue Whale challenge’:

If reports are to be believed the deadly Blue whale challenge that has claimed many lives across the world has now reached India. A 14-year-old boy ‘Sahani’ from Mumbai allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the terrace of his building as part of the challenge Sahani had gone up to the sixth floor, the terrace of the building in Sher-e-Punjab society in Andheri (E) around 5.30pm and climbed up the parapet of the side wall. Residents from other buildings shouted out warnings to be careful, but he jumped before they could do anything. His friends were chatting on social media groups about his death been linked to the Blue whale online suicide challenge game as he informed a friend that he would not come to school on Monday because of the Blue whale pact. Deputy commissioner of police (zone X) Navinchandra Reddy said they have collected the boy's laptop, mobile and other gadgets to try and find out what may have led him to end his life. He said that his parents did not know the reason. But one of the victim’s friends posted on Facebook that the suicide was linked to the Blue Whale challenge they were recording the statements of his friends too as he had told some of them that he would not be attending school from Monday.

Actions taken by the Maharashtra government:

Following the death of the 14-year-old boy in Andheri, Maharashtra government is planning to request the centre for to ban the game. On Tuesday, Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis told the Legislative Assembly that a probe would be conducted to locate the master controllers of the game and the location of its servers, to avoid for the incident related to the game. The issue was raised in the House by Senior NCP legislator AjitPawar who said the incident was an alarm bell. For which Fadnavis said it is an online game that can be controlled and they would set up an inquiry into the tragic suicide incident of the student due to Blue Whale game and he state government would further co-ordinate with the centre to take action and remedies.

2. Blue whale victim in Uttar Pradesh – Lucknow:

Two deaths linked to Blue whale game in UP:

The dangerous online Blue whale game has claimed its First victim in Uttar Pradesh in Hamirpur district. Parth Singh 13-year-old was found hanging in his bedroom in Maudaha on 27^th August night. Parth was supposed to attend a friend's birthday party but instead locked himself in the room. His father Vikram Singh broke open the door and found him hanging. Maudaha Police said the class 6th student had his father's phone on his hand in which the blue whale game that directs the player to commit suicide was ‘On’ when the body was taken down. According to the family the boy had been playing blue whale game using his father's mobile phone for the past few days. When he was asked not to play he continued playing it when his father was not around or sleeping. Circle officer AbhishekYadav told the suicide seems to have been triggered by the Blue whale game and the probe is underway by sending IT experts to go through the mobile records and history. The Director General of Police Sulkhan Singh in a letter to all district police chiefs had asked for complete compliance to the order of the union government banning the dangerous game. Yet another 14-year-old boy Aditya Vardhan allegedly hanged himself in his room in Indiranagar - Lucknow. The police were probing if the incident is linked to the Blue whale challenge, police said his friends said he was playing the dreaded game on his mobile for the past 2 weeks and was tense. According to the family, after coming back from school on Thursday afternoon, Aditya took his mother’s mobile and went to the terrace. Later, he went into his room. After over two hours, his grandmother called out Aditya, he did not respond. As she went to his room, she found him hanging from the ceiling fan. The boy was immediately brought down and was taken to the hospital where he was declared dead upon arrival.

Actions taken by the Uttar Pradesh government:

Concerned over suicide by children due to ‘Blue Whale’ game, DGP Sulkhan Singh announced a ban on it across the state. The Union ministry of electronics and information technology as well as Union home ministry had directed to the state governments to impose a blanket ban on the game. The state governments and Internet giants like Facebook, Google Yahoo, and Microsoft have been directed to remove the game from social media sites. Singh directed police officers to take action against people who are promoting the game, create awareness among children and urge the parents to keep watch on the activities of the children, along with counselling the children. The officers are asked to initiate legal action against the administrator of the game and take assistance of the social organizations in creating awareness among the children and ensure that children are prevented from playing the game.

3. Blue whale victim in Tamil Nadu – Madurai:

Vignesh, a 19-year-old second year B. Com student in Mannar Thirumalai Naicker College from Thirumangalam, Madurai committed suicide by hanging himself on Wednesday. The student’s father Jayamani who returned home after work around 4:30 pm, found his son hanging using a saree. Police confirmed that the image of a whale was carved on Vignesh's left forearm with the words "Blue Whale" written beneath it. A note was also recovered from the spot which said, “Blue Whale - This is not a game but danger. Once you enter, you can never exit". Vignesh's friends told the police that they saw him attempting the Blue Whale Challenge on his phone. The victim's grandmother Anthonyammal said that he was glued to his phone and neglected everything around him. According to his brother SathyaMoothy, Vignesh was playing some game in his phone on the terrace late nights and early mornings. When he insisted on knowing about it, he would only say that it was a different game and did not elaborate further. The night before he committed suicide, he went missing for a short while in the night. His brother went out in search of him but could not find him. When he returned later, Vignesh was found sleeping. He was found distressed for the past two days, but did not say why. P Amarnath, a young man from the village, said that his friend's circle knew that he was playing Blue Whale game and particularly that he was in the final stage. They were connected on a Whats App game and many were also playing it. They had warned him not to take up the suicide challenge. However, he told them that he would survive the challenge and meet them as a winner." Police have confiscated the phone and are analysing if his friends might have taken the challenge too. This is the first death reported in the state due to the game which has claimed many young lives in the country and around the world.

Actions taken by the Tamil Nadu government:

According to Vignesh’s mother he was always immersed in the mobile phone and whenever she asked him he replied that he was playing an online game with all his 78 friends and she added that the officials should stop the other 78 from playing the Deadly game. Madurai SP Mr.Manivannan said that a special technical team under Inspector Parameswari had been formed to investigate suicide. Also, a counselling cell headed by ADSP Kalavathi would probe any complaints on such games. A dedicated WhatsApp number 7708 806 111 has also been activated to register complaints about the Blue whale challenge. Similarly, Madurai collector K. VeeraRaghava Rao said that the parents need to keep a close watch on the activities of their children. Meanwhile the police have sought the help of the computer emergency response team of ministry of communication and information technology in deciphering the messages. The police are also trying to trace a team of Sri Lankan youth with whom the teen was in touch. Only after examining the phone, details such as how long the boy was playing the game could be ascertained through the IP addresses. The police have created a separate WhatsApp group for parents to complain about children playing Blue Whale game and they will directly go to the child's home with councillors to analyse the situation. Tamil Nadu Police had recently released a circular asking parents to keep an eye for children attempting the Blue Whale Challenge on the computer or their phones and to monitor their behaviour. Police have once again requested the parents to be more vigil. The104 helpline have been receiving a few calls from parents seeking advice on how to identify if their child is into the deadly game and have been constantly educating the callers under risk involving and how parents, teachers and friends can help identify the signs. The help line got call from a few children who said that they had been playing the game but uninstalled it who were appreciated for doing so also requested their parents to keep a close watch on them said Mr.Prahu Doss who heads GVK EMRI that operates the 104 - State’s Health helpline. Also, Chennai based Sneha suicide prevention helpline 246 40050 constantly active providing counselling for those in distress and helping in safe guarding the victims.

4. Blue whale victim in Pondicherry:

MBA student hangs himself in Pondicherry:

A 23-year-old management student committed suicide on Aug 31 late night in Puducherry, Kalapet police said this could be the second death related to the dangerous Blue Whale Challenge online game in two days in south India. Sasikumar Bora a first-year MBA student hailing from Assam, hanged himself from a tree near his hostel room. Bora, who was chatting with his friends last night, left for his room and was found hanging Friday morning. His friends informed the police that Bora used to play the Blue Whale game. The body of Bora was sent to Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute for an autopsy, and cops are waiting for a report. BuluDeyBori, mother of Sasikumar Bora said the teenager had seemed disturbed for the past few days. She did not know what he was exactly suffering from, but surely something was affecting him that he would call her up late at night and wept. He didn’t tell her what was troubling him. She added that he was not a lovelorn boy nor did he have any problem with money. A message on the teenager’s Facebook page, posted at 2:21 am on August 29, read: “Maybe I wasn't made for anyone”.Shashikant Borha’s classmates said he had downloaded the game on his mobile phone and his laptop and had sent messages that he was the admin of the Blue Whale group.Superintendent of Police (East) S Venkatasamy said that they have begun investigations to check whether the death was due to his playing the Blue Whale game. Kalapet police who checked his cell phone also confirmed that the youth was playing the game. His phone has been seized and sent to the cyber cell for further investigation.

Actions taken by the Maharashtra government:

Pondicherry Chief Minister V. NarayanaSwamy warns youth against playing blue whale and asks cyber-crime branch and police to monitor students. He called upon the student community and youths to stop playing the Blue whale game. Addressing to the media he stated that severe action would be taken against those playing this game and requested those playing the games to immediately come out of it. There had been several demands to ban this game. He said if possible the government would bring in legislation to ban the game and requested the central government to take measures to stop this game. Puducherry unit BJP President V. Ramanathan MLA urged the government to take steps to save children from the clutches of the game. He called upon social activists, educational institutions and parents to save children from this game which will ultimately instigate them to commit suicide. He demanded that computers, cell phone and tablets should not be allowed in schools and at home parents should monitor use of these by their wards. He said that the game programmed by foreign countries should be treated as a cyber-attack on our culture and heritage.

5. Blue whale victim in Rajasthan – Jodhpur:

Narrow escape from final fatality:

A 17-year-old girl who had a Blue Whale carved on her was rescued by the police after she tried to kill herself by jumping into the Kaylana lake at the outskirts of Jodhpur late on Sep 4 night. The girl apparently wanted to complete the final task of the Blue whale challenge online game by ending her life. The girl told the policeman that her mother would die and her family would be in trouble if she did not complete the game’s final challenge. The girl repeatedly asked the policeman to let her jump into water and requested not to inform her family members. Rajiv Gandhi Nagar police station said that the girl reportedly the daughter of a Border Security Force soldier and a resident of Mandore area in Jodhpur city had left her home on Monday night on the pretext of going to the market when she did not return, her parents called her on her mobile phone when the call was answered by a stranger they paniced and rushed to the police station. The girl had thrown the phone away after buying a knife and carving the Blue whale on her arms. A hunt was launched for the girl. She was spotted riding her motorcycle around the Kaylana Lake located 8 km to the west of Jodhpur and Jaisalmer Road. The police team repeatedly called out to her and asked her to come back but she rushed to the cliff and jumped into the lake. A group of divers rescued the girl from the lake and she was handed over to her family. Again, she had to be rushed to the hospital later that night as she had tried to kill herself by overdosing on sleeping pills and saved. There she told Dr KR Dhaukia who treated her and facilitated counselling that she first heard of the Blue whale game in the news and was curious. When she got the link from an unknown number and downloaded it. She began playing the game where she received instructions. She played every night for most of the night. She began sending photos of herself and her family, then she began to cut herself every day and received more instructions. She had fallen into the trap that if she did not kill herself ‘they’ would kill her mother. She had been told by the game administrators that she could either jump off the roof top slash her wrists and bleed to death or jump into a river or lake.A few days earlier another class 10 student had fled home, purchased a knife and had gone to Mumbai to complete the final blue whale challenge. His parents told the police that he had gone missing. His classmates told investigators that the boy had been talking about the blue whale game and its several stages. Police traced his whereabouts through his cell phone and reached him before he could take the drastic step. The boy had got hooked after seeing YouTube videos on the game.

Actions taken by the state government:

Rajasthan additional DSP (crime) Pankaj Kumar Singh said Android phones used by the two teenagers their data Internet usage and call detail records were being analysed. The state police have sought the assistance of the centre’s computer emergency response team (CERT) and are treating the Blue whale game as a developed model of Cyber-crime.

Findings:

The Blue Whale game is not an app that can be downloaded. It is a peer-to-peer game where one can only play if he had been sent the link by another user which makes it hard to trace. The player interacts with someone in the virtual world who threatens with challenges but in a thrilling way. Most teens play this game out of curiosity, some play them to prove their self-confidence. The stages involved in blue whale challenge are activities leading to self-isolation. The first stage of the Blue whale challenge will be an easy task. The player or the participant should wake up by 4:20 a.m. and post a status update in social media like Facebook, Twitter andWhatsApp stating that they are playing the Blue whale challenge i.e. “#IAMWHALE”. The next stage the participants should break his intimate friendship or love affair by fighting with a friend or lover and the evidence in the form of video should be sent to the admin. If the admin accepts that, the player could play the next stage in which he should eat the most hated dish of him. In the Fourth Stage the participants should keep awake from midnight 12 to 4:20 a.m. and at 4:20 a.m. one should watch a horror movie. The stages go on like this by watching more horror movies continuously in one after the other day. One of the challenges involves hearing the audio of gasping sound for 3 minutes which would be sent by the admin. Till this it would be only a mind game i.e. mental oriented. After this stage the challenges will become self-harming i.e. physical hurting like carving the words ‘YES’ ‘F57’ in the fore arm with Blade or Razer and the participant asked to prick the fore arm with a needle, piercing the cheek with a safety pin etc. All tasks in the form of video or photo should be sent to the admin. In this stage, many participants will try to quit the game. Reportedly they will be threatened to continue the game usually blackmail them that if they quit their personal details would be released in the Web; sometimes they will be threatened that their family members would be hurt. Out of fear some participants will continue; some participants willingly continue to win the game. In the next stage interaction with other players will be introduced. They chat about their experiences like sitting on the building top by their legs dangling off the roof and then climb on cell phone towers, bridge and cranes. These tasks will seed the idea of suicide in them and the photographs should be sent to the admin. Then at 4:20 a.m. the participants should walk on the railway tracks. These tasks would be repeated for about 30 to 49 days. In this period the participants would be induced with the suicidal tendency. Now a picture of a Blue Whale should be carved in their fore arms. Admin will fix a date and time and a place for the final challenge i.e. commit suicide which is called as the Grand Blue Whale Finale. On that day, the participants should take a photo of them sitting on the tallest building where they are going to commit suicide with the legs dangling of the roof and post that picture on social media like Facebook Twitter WhatsApp accompanied by the word ‘END’.

I stage - the admin realises the loneliness of the participant because even after posting in social media neither parents nor friends have prevented the participant.II Stage - fight with friends and breaking of love with lover indicates his dis-involvement or disengagement in the social life,III stage- eating the hated dish reveals his foolishness and idiotism.From these stages admins identify that the participants could be easily isolated and in the following, stages the participants are completely isolated from the society that even after posting the final post on social media there is no one to prevent them from suicide. Teenagers and young adults in their formative years seek social validation, acceptance and aspire to be part of something bigger than them and this game exploits that.

In India till date there are nearly 5 reported suicides due to Blue Whale challenge in the age group of 13 to 23 i.e. teenagers and young adults. The victims continued the game mainly due to threatening. These threats mostly come outside India especially Russia and Sri Lanka. In India, the victims committed suicide by hanging. This could allegedly be the instruction of the admins as they know all the details of the players even the height of their house. According to the media reports the family members of all the victims noticed the signs –sudden isolation, unusual outgoing, disturbed sleep (most of the tasks would be in midnight and early hours), gluing to the phone, unusual activities, hiding their whereabouts, sudden violence, depression, lack of interest in studies etc. Unfortunately, in all the 5 cases the parents are unaware that these activities and behavioural changes of their children are due to the Blue whale challenge. But the suicides created a drastic awareness in the society i.e. in families, educational institutions, police department and governing bodies of the society. Almost 200 victims are saved after this in various parts of India. If anyone searches in Google in less than a second you will get more than 63 links related to the Blue Whale game. All the state governments have urged the central government to ban game. The Union Information Technology Ministry had also directed social media giants such as Facebook, Google and Instagram to remove links of the controversial game. This awareness also creates more curiosity in the youngsters and there is a risk of more youngsters start searching this game. The talk about Blue whale game is spreading like wildfire in every part of the country. The responsibility of parents and teachers is heightened in protecting the children. Following the death of the 19-year-old Madurai boy, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court headed by judges K. K. Sasidharan and G.R. Swaminathan had taken SuoMotu petition on the Blue whale issue and directed action to curb the spread of the game and measures be taken to put an end to the menace. Interim order would be given on September 11. Google trends for the past year show India saw the highest number of searches in the world for 'Blue Whale Game’, it makes India ranks no. 1 for highest Blue Whale related searches worldwide. Within India, the states most vulnerable to the Blue Whale game are the North-Eastern ones. Of the top 50 cities in the world with the highest concentration of Blue Whale Challenge searches the top 32 positions are held by Indian cities. The international organisation UNICEF has issued an advisory, listing out dependable institutions across India to contact for help. Psychiatrists say that they have been receiving many calls from parents seeking a solution. Many teens who are playing the Blue whale game have given counselling and prevented from continuing the game.

CONCLUSION:

The smartphones are the main reason for the Blue whale game because the game purely relies on the smartphone and the active Internet connection. The competition between the telecom providers result in low cost Internet packages and sometimes free Internet packages which is the main reason for all the customers using Internet and the children could easily access to Internet. The gadgets confine the children into the room and instead of playing outdoor games they prefer playing indoor games and easily attracted towards the trap of such deadly games thinking that these are adventurous games. The links like the Blue whale challenge cannot be blocked as a hundred more can be created in the next few seconds. Most of the recent cases in India were only been allegedly proven and under investigation i.e. the game’s true admins are not yet traced. This Blue whale has become an idea of exploiting youths i.e. some cyber criminals use these types of links with the word Blue whale linking to it and get into the life of youths and manipulate by extracting information. Till date reportedly only few admins have been arrested around the world as anyone with a little hacking knowledge use this idea and become a admin for this suicide game. Awareness of parents and teachers and creating awareness among the children is the only way to deal with this issue and parents should be more vigilant towards the activities of their children.

REFERENCES:

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Web Resources:

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2. Manish K Pathak (2017). Mumbai Police take up the Blue Whale challenge case after 14-yr-old boy ‘commits’ suicide hindustantimes.com Aug 01 http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/mumbai-blue-whale-suicide-conduct-psychological-autopsy-to-check-if-boy-took-challenge-say-doctors/story-Y7zq5KnMswLz4j4mVQVZRN.html

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hindustantimes.com Aug 29 http://www.hindustantimes.com/lucknow/blue-whale-challenge-behind-lucknow-boy-s-suicide-kin/story-DPbxhnG2l0TmfivoqjR5YN.html

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7. Special Report (2017) Not a game, but a disaster: 19-year-old TN Blue Whale victim in suicide note deccanchronicle.comAug 31 http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/310817/madurai-blue-whale-game-claims-youths-life.html

8. Special Report (2017) Student who committed suicide had played Blue Whale Challenge for 50 days, says police indiatoday.inAug 31 http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/blue-whale-challenge-tamil-nadu-madurai-college-student-suicide-police/1/1037687.html

9. Vignesh V (2017) Tamil Nadu: Madurai student commits suicide playing Blue Whale Challenge newindianexpress.comAug 31 http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2017/aug/30/tamil-nadu-madurai-student-commits-suicide-playing-blue-whale-challenge-1650367--1.html

10. Express News Service (2017) MBA student hangs self from tree in Pondicherry University, Blue Whale Game suspected newindianexpress.comSep 01 http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2017/sep/01/mba-student-hangs-self-from-tree-in-pondicherry-university-blue-whale-game-suspected-1651063.html

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Received on 24.10.2017 Modified on 26.11.2017

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2018; 9(1): 189-195.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2018.00034.7