The High Court of Bangladesh has ordered its government to ban games like PUBG Mobile and Free Fire along with TikTok citing “destructive” behaviour.
As per Daily Star, the court also issued a rule asking the concerned government authorities to explain in 10 days why their inaction to ban online games and apps should not be declared illegal.
In June, two Supreme Court lawyers, Barrister Mohammad Humayun Kabir Pallab and Barrister Mohammad Kawser on behalf of rights organization Law and Life Foundation, submitted a petition to the High Court requesting the formation of a committee with “technologists, educationists and lawyers” to aid the Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to single out the games that corrupt the youth.
The petition highlights games such as PUBG Mobile and Free Fire as harmful to the youth of the country, suggesting that they promote “violence and unethical activities.”
The dark clouds have drawn closer over PUBG once again. While PUBG has been the subject of ban in Bangladesh for its impact on the youth, the game got banned in India due to security reasons. However, Krafton managed to dodge the bullet by repackaging it as an Indian game, however, the move hasn’t gone down with certain groups who are bent on getting it banned again.
It will be interesting to see what measures will these gaming publications take in order to not let their fans from Bangladesh miss out on the fun.