Lok Sabha Question No. 2318 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-15
Subject: Violence Abetting Video Games
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Vishnu Dutt Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2318

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 15.03.2023

## VIOLENCE ABETTING VIDEO GAMES

## 2318.   SHRI VISHNU DATT SHARMA:

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is cognisant that a new trend of violence abetting video games, which are  full  of  violence,  is  picking  up  among  children  and  adolescents  of  the  country  and  if  so,  the details thereof;

(b) whether the Government has taken/planned some measures to address this issue and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government, in view of harmful excess use of online games, is planning to limit the gamers under 18 years to just 3 hours of online games per week and make industry responsible of enforcing the regulations, as China has done; and

(d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a):  The  policies  of  the  Government  are  aimed  at  ensuring  an  Open,  Safe  and  Trusted  and Accountable Internet for its users. With the expansion of the Internet and more and more Indians coming online, the potential  for  Indians  being  exposed  to  content  depicting  violence  has  grown. Online  game  content  too  is  one  among  various  categories  of  online  content  offered  by  online gaming platform intermediaries, which is picking up around the world, including among children and adolescents in India. The Government is aware of the possible risks and challenges associated with the online games including that of violence associated with video games.

(b) to (d): To help achieve the aim of making Internet Open, Safe and Trusted and Accountable, the Central Government, in exercise of powers conferred by the Information Technology Act, 2000, has  made  the  Information  Technology  (Intermediary  Guidelines  and  Digital  Media  Ethics  Code) Rules,  2021.  These  rules  cast  specific  obligation  on  intermediaries,  including  social  media intermediaries, to observe due diligence and provide that if they fail to observe such due diligence, they shall no longer be exempt from their liability under law for third-party information or data or communication link hosted by them. Such due diligence includes the following:

- (i) The  rules  cast  specific  obligation  on  intermediaries  to  observe  due  diligence  by  making reasonable  efforts  to  cause  its  user  not  to  host,  display,  publish,  transmit  or  share  any information that is harmful to child, causes incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence, relates to encourages gambling, or violates any law for the time being in force.
- (ii) The rules also cast an obligation on intermediaries to provide, upon receipt of an order from a lawfully authorised government  agency,  information  or  assistance for prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution under law.
- (iii) In  case  an  intermediary  is  a  significant  social  media  intermediary  ( i.e., a  social  media intermediary  having  more  than  50  lakh  registered  users  in  India),  to  additionally  observe due diligence in terms of appointing a Chief Compliance Officer and a nodal contact person for 24x7 coordination with law enforcement agencies.

No proposal to limit the amount of time spent by gamers in playing online games is currently under consideration of the Government.

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