PIL targets Roblox, online games over child safety, court seeks Centre’s response

The petitioner further prayed for a direction to the authorities to conduct awareness drives in schools and educational institutions to sensitise children, teachers, and parents regarding the potential psychological, behavioural, and safety risks associated with online gaming platforms, including but not limited to Roblox.

It also suggested constituting a high-level committee of child psychologists, cyber experts, AI moderators, and law enforcement authorities to assess risks and recommend immediate protective measures.

Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla seek a response from the Centre.

The impact of online gaming

The impact is seen on their physical health and well-being, with appetite and sleep being increasingly compromised. Choices about what is good or not are influenced strongly by the content they are consuming. They experience inordinate distress, which they experience as extremely difficult to modulate when they need to contain the time they spend or have to engage in a different activity.

A study conducted by the Department of Psychiatry, PGIMER, Chandigarh, has revealed that 15.9 per cent of youth suffer from internet addiction, which significantly contributes to depression and anxiety among young people.

Dr Aseem Mehra, one of the authors of the study, pointed out that with everything available online, people often feel less need for real human interaction, unknowingly becoming victims of addiction. Not only youth, but even younger children are now visiting clinics due to gaming addiction, which is also a part of internet addiction.